Wish Upon A Star
by purpleeyednekoyoukai
Summary: KaiHil some RxM, MxM, MingGarland and BrookOC...welcome to the world of multiple bad guys, multiple problems, and plot twists galore! read if you dare! COMPLETED. First chapter of sequel posted!
1. Wish Upon A Star

This is a product of boredom, and somewhat negative emotions relating to summer, so it starts out kind of angsty…

-x-x-x-x-

Hilary sighed softly as she stared up at the night's sky. She realized it reminded her of him. It seemed that nowadays _everything_ reminded her of him.

She guessed it was because she was feeling guilty. In the beginning she had thought he was one of the people out to get her friends when in reality, he was her friends' greatest protectors.

'Yeah…I'm feeling guilty…' She concluded as she sighed again. 'Why didn't I trust him in the first place…? Oh yeah…'

Hilary didn't notice that a sad smile now adorned her lips. A bittersweet memory replaying in her mind only served as a greater reminder that he was gone…and probably never coming back.

'Why do I feel like this is all my fault…?' The girl asked herself in confusion. Her eyes hardened as their gaze tore itself from the sky and landed on the ground. 'Everyone feels this is their fault…if there was only something they did, or hadn't did…maybe he would have stayed…'

Too numb to feel the tears streaming from her eyes, she looked once more the sky, only to look away again as fast as she could. She saw him…in the stars.

'Is he going to haunt me forever?' The thought had occurred to her, but the real realization had just dawned on her. 'Am I going to have him stuck in my mind forever?'

Something wet landed on her leg.

She looked down to see a tear drop stain on her exposed leg.

'Silly…that's what you get for wearing shorts…' She mentally chided herself before her thoughts, once again, drifted back to him.

Another tear slid down her numb face as she watched a shooting star waltz across the sky.

'Please…Please…' She begged silently. 'Please…bring him back to us…bring him back to me…' The tears fell thicker and faster now as the star finished its number and vanished from sight.

She heard footsteps behind her, but she didn't bother to turn around.

"Rei, I'm not coming in right now…I don't feel like it…" She called.

"Rei," asked an oh-so-familiar voice. Almost paralyzed with shock, Hilary spun around to see that her wish had come true.

"You're…you're back…" She murmured in a dazed tone.

"No…" He replied, walking closer.

"No?" She verified in a broken sounding tone of voice. He walked even closer, mystifying her. When he leaned in, she froze as his breath tickled her ear.

"I'm home…" He whispered as her eyes widened in shock.

-x-x-x-x-

OWARI!

If anyone wants this to be a two-shot, let me know…I think you all can guess who the "he" is…

If not, I'll definitely make this a two-shot…

Well, let me know…  
Emma


	2. A Surprise

Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

And, okay, two-shot it is…

Oh, and there were two people who correctly guessed the identity of the "He" in the story…they would be: Lioness Of the fire and Crazy fanfic girl loves-anime

It was: Kai!

Let the two-shot commence!

-x-x-x-x-

"H-home," Hilary stuttered. A small nod was her answer. Without even thinking, she grabbed his hand and ran towards the dojo. "Rei! Kenny! Max! Tyson!"

Tyson was furiously hitting buttons, his eyes glued to the screen as he tried to stop Max from winning the fifth straight game.

Kenny sat in a corner, talking to Dizzi. They were going over stats and strategies for an upcoming battle.

Rei was sitting on the couch above Tyson, and Max. He was reading a manga and glancing up at the clock every so often.

'I'll bring Hilary in soon…right now I think she needs some alone time…' Said neko-jin decided and his eyes wandered back to the page.

They all started when they heard Hilary's shout. All of them immediately dropped their things and raced outside to the porch of the dojo as Hilary came running around the corner.

"Hil," Rei asked worriedly before realizing she was pulling someone along.

"C'mon Kai," Hilary murmured softly, pulling him around the corner.

'Might as well…' The cold Russian teen thought and allowed Hilary to pull him around the corner to come face to face with the shocked Bladebreakers.

"Kai!" Rei was the first one to speak. He gave a small nod of recognition and as soon as he did, all four boys ran forward and were soon pelting him with questions.

A small smile wormed its way to Hilary's face as she stepped back and went out on to the lawn to allow the boys' their reunion in private.

She sat down on the surprisingly dry grass and looked up at the sky again.

"Thank you…" She whispered aloud as another shooting star flew across the sky.

After a few minutes, she noticed someone was standing behind her. Cautiously turning around, she found herself looking up into purplish crimson eyes. Suddenly, her mouth was dry.

"Hi Kai…" She muttered.

"Where did you go," the Russian teen replied. Hilary froze for a second. Was there a hint of a reprimand in his voice?

"I figured you guys would want your reunion with the team…" She shrugged and turned back to the night's sky. A hand entered her vision and gently spun her to face him again.

"You are part of the team," he told her, his hard purplish crimson eyes softening for a second as they gazed into her ruby ones.

Rei smirked from the window.

'I knew it…' He thought in satisfaction as he dropped the bottom of the curtain and headed back to his perch on the couch. 'All's well that ends well…' The neko-jin decided as he picked up his manga again.

She just stared into his eyes, frozen. He, _the_ Kai Hiwatari, was close enough to kiss her!

'Wait, I did _not_ just think that! Kai might be the team captain and he's saved me and the others a fair few times, but…' It was then that realization dawned on her. 'I wasn't feeling guilty…I missed him…plain and simple!'

Kai stared down at the girl who appeared lost in her thoughts. Yes, this was the same girl he couldn't get out of his.

Ever since he had left the dojo, she had never been far from his thoughts, although he'd rather die than admit it. He couldn't believe it had taken him this long to realize he missed her; he had thought it was just because he had left her with his teammates.

Well, Kon was capable of protecting her, he knew that…and Tyson would rather die than let anything bad happen to her, but he still wasn't at ease.

But…he had waited too long. Kon had taken the place he had hoped to fill.

"Um…Kai?" She watched as his eyes lost the almost thoughtful look that had adorned them. "Could you…let go now?" His hand immediately released her chin, like dropping a hot brick. "Kai?" Hilary felt really pathetic for asking this, but she had to know. "Why did you come back?"

When she got no reply, she sighed; typical Kai. As she turned around, something brushed against her lips. It took her a few moments to realize they were Kai's own.

-x-x-x-x-

OWARI!

Okay, now it's done….

Unless anyone asks for a three-shot…and by then, I might as well make it a story, not a one-shot…

Oh well…

Let me know what you think!  
Emma


	3. Things Go From Bad To Worse

Alright…that's it…:goes and scribbles two-shot out angrily: IT'S A STORY NOW!

XD okay, now that _that's_ done…on to the third installment!

I'm still gonna put three-shot up…but if I make a fourth chapter…that's it…it'll be an official story…

Anyway…let us begin… (I want a border, so sue me...no, wait, don't!)

-x-x-x-x-

Hilary just sat there frozen; she just couldn't believe it. Something she thought would never occur outside of a dream was happening.

Kai mistook her shock for anger and pulled away. Still too dazed to even think, Hilary stared at his disappearing form, two fingers on her pleasantly throbbing lips.

'I knew it…she's Rei's…' His feet took him to and fro between his usual haunts around the city. It was only when the first rays of the sun struck the sky did he snap out of his thoughts enough to head back to the Granger dojo.

Sunlight was just creeping into his room as he entered it. Ignoring the offending ball of fire that had just begun to peak over the horizon, he slipped his shoes off and climbed into bed.

He didn't know how much later it was, but someone was cautiously poking his side.

"Do you think he's awake," a voice he immediately recognized as Hilary's asked.

"No," replied an even voice that was undoubtedly Rei's.

"I am now," he countered in a monotone and sat up. Both started and jumped back.

"Sheesh…" Hilary mumbled, her hand over her fiercely beating heart. Rei gave a knowing smile to Hilary.

"I'll leave you two be…" He walked out; a scowling Hilary was now beet red. Kai ignored their antics and stood. Thinking she'd take the hint if he went to get dressed, he walked towards the dresser. As predicted, Hilary fled the room.

'I swear, Rei Kon! I will get you back!' She vowed as she clenched her fist.

"You know, you might not wanna glare at the window like that…someone might think you're like-" Tyson's little comment was broken off by Hilary's clenched fist coming in contact with his face.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Tyson moaned, falling back onto the couch. "You know, you could be a bit nicer now that you have a boyfriend!" Kai, who had just entered the room after finishing getting dressed, scowled, but re-schooled his face to blankness.

A fuming Hilary stormed out the room, "REI KOOOOON!"

"Whatsa matter with you?" Tyson asked, sensing the dual haired blader's bad mood. His answer was a scowl as Kai left the room. He just missed Rei being dragged in by his ear.

"Did you go and tell everyone," she seethed at him. A terrified Rei shook his head no. "Then who did you tell?" Kai heard her screaming and mentally decided if they let him back on as captain, Rei's $$ was his.

"…Tyson overheard me and Max…" Rei mumbled as she tugged harder on his ear, making him yelp in pain.

"I thought Kai'd be happy…" That made Hilary and Rei stop their antics and stare at him.

"He's Kai for god's sake!" Hilary cried, throwing up her arms. "He's not supposed to _act_ happy, even if he _is_!"

"Good point," said Tyson and decided to drop the matter before he added to Hilary's apparent vexation. He had already gotten hit once.

"Speaking of Kai, where is he?" Rei rubbed his sore ear.

"Hm…now that you mention it, I haven't seen him since I stormed off after Rei…" The brunette commented, causing Tyson to look up from his videogames.

"Oh, he left," the bluette stated before going back to Super Smash Brothers.

"Left!" Hilary screeched, making Rei wince and rub his ears. "Oops…sorry Rei…"

"It's okay," he replied. "We'd better go find our captain, though…" Hilary smiled at this.

"So you guys are gonna let him be captain again?" Rei nodded as they both dashed off to go in search of Kai.

:Three Hours Later:

"Phew…" Hilary murmured as she collapsed on a park bench; Rei followed suit. "We're been _everywhere_ looking for him…I guess…" Her voice cracked and she tried to stop the tears from welling up in her eyes.

"No, he said he was back for good this time," Rei soothed her, wrapping an arm around her and letting her cry into his shoulder. Neither of them noticed Kai approaching from behind. Said Russian teen took one look at the scene, figured they were busy cuddling and took off again.

The brunette calmed down and pulled away from Rei's shoulder, taking a deep calming breath. She sighed loudly, knowing that it would help relieve stress; this caused Rei to smile slightly.

"Thanks Rei…" Ruby red eyes stared glumly at the ground in front of her.

"How about we go eat some lunch? My treat," he suggested to try and lighten the mood. A faint smile appeared on Hilary's face.

"Sure…" Both stood up and Rei led the way. "And Rei?" He paused and turned around. "Thanks again…"

"What are friends for," he joked as Hilary walked in step with him; this caused her to play-punch him in the arm as both of them laughed.

A bitter Russian teen scowled at the sound of their merry making and walked in the opposite direction.

-x-x-x-x-

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade…if I did, there would be a lot more plot, a lot less blading, Dranzer wouldn't have been destroyed and Hilary would blade too…I don't own Super Smash Brothers either…

Yeah, I know the disclaimer normally goes up top, but at this point, I really don't care…

Since I'm not quite sure where this is going, the chapters might be a little short, so please don't get annoyed…however, I'll probably be able to update almost daily since they're so short…

Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Emma


	4. In Which Things Get Worser

Since the last one was soooo short, I figured I'd make another one…right away…

Ahem, enough of my stalling and wasting time…

I think we all know I don't own beyblade, so…on with the fic!

-x-x-x-x-

'What do I care…all I did was kiss her last night…' Kai thought angrily as he walked away from the sound of their laughter. 'And I only couldn't get her out of my mind the whole time I was in Russia!' Said fuming teen walked along a street, avoiding the crowd. His eyes flashed when he saw Hilary and Rei holding hands as they walked through the crowd together. 'What is this…stalk me day…' Gritting his teeth, he purposely walked in the opposite direction they were going in.

-x-x-x-x-

"Hils, hold my hand so we won't get separated, okay?"

"Okay…but if anyone asks-"

"I know, we're just friends…I've known forever you've liked Kai…" His companion blushed.

"Was it really that obvious?" When Rei nodded gravely, she sighed. "Well, at least he knows I like him…" Smirking, Rei led her to a restaurant; both sat down and ordered.

-x-x-x-x-

'If it weren't for the fact I don't believe in luck, I'd think I had bad luck,' Kai scowled at Rei and Hilary; they were sitting in a restaurant, chatting and having a good time. 'The one place I probably won't find them is the dojo…' With that in mind, he headed back to the dojo.

-x-x-x-x-

:5 PM:

"Okay, either he's gone back to the dojo or…"

"I think he went back to the dojo, so let's head back ourselves…besides, it's dinner and we haven't exactly been sitting around doing nothing…"

"Yeah, I am kinda hungry," Hilary agreed and led the way back to the dojo.

When the reentered the dojo, Max looked up from changing Draciel's attack ring, with the assistance of Kenny and stared at them for a moment.

"What took you guys so long? Kai came back…three hours ago…" Max commented, checking the clock.

"We were looking for him…all over!" Hilary retorted, sinking into the couch with a soft groan. "I've never walked so much in my entire life…"

Kai, who was leaning against the wall near the door, left the room.

"Kai said that since you missed practice Rei, you have to do double the warm up tomorrow," Kenny informed him without looking up from helping Max with the attack ring. Rei sighed and sank into the cushion next to Hilary.

"Remind me why we let him be captain again," he asked wearily, making the whole room chuckle.

"Well, at least you'll be in shape," Hilary told him.

"And I'm not now?"

"You know what I meant, Rei Kon!" She mock scowled at him, and received a mock angry glare in return.

She and Rei had gotten a lot closer since Kai had been gone; that much was true. However, Rei had Mariah and for Hilary, it had always been Kai. Too bad a certain Russian blader doesn't know or realize that…then again, if he did, this fic would have no point…

:A Week Later:

Hilary sighed as she stared out her window, up at the same sky that had granted her wish…just seven days ago.

'Yeah…' The brunette thought bitterly. 'He's back…and he's been avoiding me like the plague…I guess that kiss meant nothing to him…' Allowing herself to sigh one more time, she walked back into the house and meandered back to her room quietly. 'Tyson might be a heavy sleeper, but Max, Kai and Rei would be woken up if I made too much noise…' The next thing she knew, Kai's door flew open silently to reveal the Russian teen. "Hi…" She sweatdropped.

The shirtless Kai scowled at her and made to close the door.

"Um…Kai?" His scowl became deeper but he paused in the action of closing the door. "…Did the kiss the night you came back not exist or something? Because if I was only dreaming, I'd like to know now, so I can get on with my life…"

"It was real," the Russian shot back shortly.

"Then how come you've been avoiding me ever since?"

"I don't think your boyfriend would like to know I kissed you." Kai's door shut with a slight snap, leaving a very confused Hilary standing in the hallway.

'My…boyfriend! I don't _have_ a boyfriend…well, I thought I did, but apparently…ugh…I'm rambling…okay, I'm going to bed…I'll think about this mess in the morning…' The frustrated girl ran a hand through her bangs before sneaking into her room and slipping into bed. She was asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

A ray of sunlight draped itself over her eye, effectively waking her from her restful slumber.

'Why do I feel like today's important…' She wondered as she sat up, rubbing an eye sleepily. 'Guess it must be-Kai's birth day!' Hilary remembered. 'I completely forgot!' Said girl went into panic mode as she hurriedly dressed and left the dojo. 'What am I gonna get him?'

-x-x-x-x-

Rei walked into the kitchen to find Hilary nowhere in sight.

'She's always up by now…oh great…' He sighed, grabbed his jacket and went out to look for her. 'I only hope she wasn't kidnapped…'

-x-x-x-x-

"Anyone seen Hil or Rei," Max asked sleepily as he stared at his cereal, his brain fogged over; it was the after affects of not quite being awake.

"Nope," Tyson replied just as sleepily.

"Mebbe they went shopping," Max suggested. Tyson fell back asleep and his face ended up in his cereal bowl. Max just blinked blearily at him before deciding to eat his before it suffered a similar fate.

-x-x-x-x-

'They're off on another date…' Kai assessed mentally as he reentered the dojo from his own morning routine. He stared at Tyson for a moment before mentally shaking himself. His face resuming its usual scowl, he went out back to train.

A half asleep Max followed him, leaving his-now empty-cereal bowl on the table. He didn't trust himself to take it to the sink.

-x-x-x-x-

'That's it!' Hilary thought as she walked past a window displaying posters. She quickly entered the shop and purchased a blank poster, along with some colored pencils.

Glowing with the pride of a great solution to a troubling problem, she headed back toward the dojo, and crashed into Rei.

"Oops…sorry Rei…" She muttered, sweatdropping, as she offered the neko-jin a hand up. The tired boy gratefully took it and allowed her to help him to his feet.

"Where have you been all morning," he asked as they headed back towards the dojo together.

"You'll see," she answered with a mysterious smile.

"If you say so…" He replied with a raised eyebrow; she smirked at him. "I think you've been around Kai too long…"

"WATCH OUT!" A voice yelled. They both ducked at a green blade went flying over their heads.

-x-x-x-x-

Max sleepily agreed to train with Kai, and so the match had begun. Seeing as Max's focus was zero, as soon as Dranzer slammed into Draciel, his blade went flying. Having to duck to keep his head from becoming a separate limb, he was awake enough to shout a warning to two people who were walking past.

-x-x-x-x-

"Isn't it a bit early to being running, or in this case, ducking, for our lives," Hilary inquired.

"Apparently not," Rei muttered. Hilary nodded as she picked up her purchases, hoping they weren't ruined.

"Sorry," a familiar voice called from the top of the fence that surrounded the Granger dojo.

"Max, use the gate, don't hop the fence," Hilary corrected automatically. A puzzled Max looked down.

"Oh crap…" He mumbled upon seeing Rei and Hilary. Rei picked up his blade and threw it back to him. The blonde caught it and disappeared behind the wall.

"Nice way to say thanks," a grumpy Rei grumbled.

"Please, one Kai is enough," Hilary joked, which caused Rei to scowl at her in an imitation of Kai. "Noooo!" Hilary yelled kiddingly and ran inside the gate with Rei mock chasing her, shouting something about flames and imminent doom.

Both fell on the floor laughing at the looks on their teammates' faces from their antics.

"That…was…priceless…" Hilary choked out through her laughter.

"I…know…" Rei agreed and both lapsed into chuckles again.

Once both were calm enough, they were questioned.

"What the hell were you two doing," Kai demanded to know bluntly. The parties in question determinedly avoided each other's gazes, knowing if their eyes met, a lot more laughter would ensue.

"What was so funny," Max wondered aloud. Both snickered, but bit their lips to try and stop themselves from cracking up all over again.

"I think Rei was shouting something about flames and imminent doom when he was chasing her," Kenny added, fixing his glasses. Rei and Hilary started cracking up again, leaving their teammates confused, disturbed and, in one case, dare I say it, jealous.

Once Hilary calmed down enough, she decided to explain. Sort of.

"Well, Rei and I were joking around…and…he was pretending to be the person I was kidding about…"

"Who do we know that relates to flames and imminent doom," Max inquired confusedly.

"Er…the imminent doom part was just because we were kidding…" Rei corrected.

'We're so screwed,' both thought at the same time when they saw Kai's scowl deepen.

-x-x-x-x-

Tune in next time to find out if Kai finally gets his head out of his rear end and to see if Hilary and Rei survive Kai's anger!

…or even if Kai even figured it out…

Emma


	5. Happy Birth Day to Him

Update time…again…

First: thanks to everyone who reviewed! I appreciate it!

Now, on with the chapter!

-x-x-x-x-

Instead of saying anything, Kai turned and left, confusing everyone.

"What is up with him," Tyson half yelled in exasperation.

"I have no idea…" Hilary answered with a shake of her head. Everyone exchanged puzzled glances and their gaze turned to the gate where their captain's scarf was just disappearing behind the outside of the fence. The girl sighed and picked up her purchases. "If anyone needs me, I'll be out back…"

It was her turn to be ogled by mystified stares. Instead of commenting, she merely walked outside and sat down on the edge of the porch.

'This looks like a good spot,' she decided and set up her supplies. 'Since all I have to go on is a memory, this might not turn out as I hoped…good thing I bought a few extras…' With that, the determined girl got to work.

:Noon:

'Almost done,' she thought with satisfaction as she picked up a pen.

"What are you still doing out here," a voice asked, nearly causing her to drop her things.

"Nothing," Hilary replied, shoving her things back into the bag and out of sight.

"Well, if you're doing nothing…would you like to learn how to blade?" Said person smirked at her when she just gaped at him. "Should I take that as a yes?"

"Rei Kon," she hissed through gritted teeth.

"Well," he persisted.

"Fine…but I'm warning you now, I have no idea what I'm doing," she scowled.

"Oh, I know that," he responded with a laugh.

Kai, who was approaching, scowled.

'Can't they start their little make-out sessions _inside_,' he snarled mentally before turning and heading back out.

-x-x-x-x-

After explaining the basics to her, Rei was demonstrating how to "let it rip". She sighed and fingered the practice blade Rei had told her would serve as her blade until she could demonstrate enough skill in control.

"Okay, your turn," he told her, stepping back.

"If you say so," she murmured and pulled the rip cord. The blade launched and ended up in the bowl before bouncing out and going into the shrubbery nearby. 'Come back!' She screeched mentally; the blade slowly approached and sidled back into the dish, the furious glare of its owner making it think twice about bouncing out again.

"Not bad," Rei complemented as her approached.

"Thanks," she replied, her glare never leaving the blade for a moment.

"Wanna try again?" In response, she nodded and called the blade back to her hand. She had to duck in order not to be beaned by the obstinate blade.

"I hate you," she muttered to it as she re-attached it to its launcher. A slight wiggle was all the blade allowed itself before settling in. Mentally cursing it into oblivion, she launched the blade again and prepared herself for its antics. 'You **will** spin in the center of that dish and you will **not** disobey me!' Said blade went in circles around the edge of the dish.

"Wow, that's pretty good for a beginner," Rei commented. A fuming Hilary turned to face him.

"Is that good when I told it to spin in the center of the dish," she growled.

"Okay, that's not good…but still, that's good form," he gestured at the blade.

"I'm not doing that. The **blade** is!" Hilary's scowled deepened at the look of shock on Rei's face.

"The only way it could do that is if there was a bitbeast in it…" Rei informed her slowly.

"What? But you said this was a practice blade!"

"It is…" Rei stared at the blade that was currently doing laps around the stadium. "Unless…" 'That's it!' "When it went into the bush…" Hilary scowled.

'Get back to my hand,' she yelled at it. It obeyed. Both froze when they saw the creature in the bitchip.

"No…way…" Rei choked out as he gaped at it.

"I-it can't be," Hilary murmured, her eyes wide with fear.

/But it can…/ A silky, evil-sounding voice commented in their heads.

"You have got to be kidding me," Hilary groaned.

/No joke…/ The voice replied.

"Kill me now," Hilary mumbled; Rei scowled and worriedly glanced at the blade.

/No can do…now that I'm your bitbeast, I'm sworn to protect you…/ Hilary and Rei scowled.

"That didn't stop you from almost killing Kai." She hissed at it.

/What did you expect? Boris was using both of us as guinea pigs…that and the blade I was in had a chip in it…/

"One to control you?" Rei's eyes narrowed.

/Correct…/

"Well, this is an interesting development…" Hilary muttered in an annoyed tone.

/Well, I **am** Dranzer's mate…/ Both Rei and Hilary gaped at the blade. /It's only fitting my mistress is the one his master is with…/

"Is with!" Hilary's eye twitched. "That son of a bitch hates me!" Rei sweatdropped.

"Um…you might wanna calm down…"

Now Kenny, Max and Tyson were standing on the porch, staring at the scene in front of them. A scowling and fuming Hilary gripping her blade so hard that she drew blood; Rei stood next to her, sweatdropping and mumbling something about calming down.

"And what son of a bitch would that be?" A cold voice asked from the gate. All eyes turned to see Kai standing at the gate. For a moment, Hilary's eye twitched. Then she turned around and stormed off.

Rei, who had pulled out some bandages, sighed and followed her.

:Two Hours Later:

Rei and a now-calm Hilary returned to the dojo.

Everyone looked up as they came in, but said nothing as Rei brought Hilary over to the sink and began cleaning out her hand.

'Kai should be the one doing this,' Rei thought angrily as he continued cleaning her cuts out.

/Indeed…/ Hilary's new bitbeast commented.

'Don't do that,' Rei scolded as he dabbed some disinfectant on Hilary's scratches. "Done." He commented and released her hand.

"Thanks," Hilary replied and headed back towards the beydish.

"And what are you doing," Kai's chilly voice interrupted.

"I'm training," she returned in a voice to match his and walked out the door, leaving a stunned silence in her wake.

"Since when does she blade," Tyson asked. His answered was the sound of the door shutting as Rei headed outside as well.

Raising an eyebrow, Tyson headed to the window to see Rei coaching Hilary. Satisfied, he plopped down on the couch and challenged Max to a video game.

"What did you see," Max inquired after a few moments' of silence.

"Rei's teaching Hil how to beyblade," Tyson shrugged. Kai's eyes narrowed.

-x-x-x-x-

"What do you say I call it quits for today," Hilary huffed at Rei.

"Alright…just don't forget to come in for lunch," Rei headed inside. Once his footsteps faded, Hilary dove under the porch and pulled out her bag and supplies.

'Phew…it's fine…' Feeling a bit happier since that little confrontation with Kai, she signed her name at the bottom of her present with a flourish.

/He'll like it…/

Hilary froze.

'Did…no…I must be imagining things…' Hilary shook her head as she sneakily wrapped the present up and slipped inside to stash it in her room until later that night.

-x-x-x-x-

Kai watched as Hilary glanced around warily before sneaking inside and dashing off to her room.

'What is she up to…' He scowled and returned to his thoughts and plans for training.

-x-x-x-x-

Rei had to bite his lip to keep his laughter from escaping as he watched his teammates, minus Kai, rush around the dojo, setting things up for the surprise party that night.

'Good thing Kai normally spends his time in the "main" room…' The amused neko-jin thought.

"Rei, can you give me a hand here," Max whispered as he struggled with a banner that read "Happy Birth Day, Kai!".

"Sure," Rei whispered back and helped him put it up as Tyson threw streamers everywhere.

Kenny, who stood to the side, had to repeatedly duck to prevent himself from becoming a streamer mummy. Deciding they would need a bit more time to undo the damage Tyson had done, he snuck out and went to where Hilary was.

"Yes," she inquired as a knock was heard on her door. Kenny cautiously opened it; she burst into giggles.

"Shhh," the annoyed Chief hissed. She stopped obligingly, but snickered every so often at Kenny. He was covered in multicolored streamers. "I need you to take Kai out somewhere…" Ignoring the horrified look on her face, he ploughed on. "Anywhere! We just need more time!"

"Fine…but you guys owe me for this," she grumbled as she stalked out to the front room where Kai was. "You, come with me!" She grabbed his wrist, hauled the surprised teen to his feet and dragged him off, knowing full well when her anger wore off, she would be embarrassed.

About ten minutes from the dojo, Kai was unshaken enough to pull his wrist from her grasp. He stared at her, waiting for her to start squirming. Instead, she huffed and turned away from him.

'How did **I** get stuck doing this?'

/You were the only one not helping decorate…that's why…/

'That's not helping.'

/You asked/ The bitbeast shrugged.

Kai froze. Hilary turned around to see what was wrong when she saw Kai's expression. It was the closest one she had ever seen him wear that, on any other person, would be called fear.

"Kai," she asked, waving a hand in front of his face. "Yoo-hoo? Anybody home?" A scowl directed in her direction was his answer. "Why did you look scared all of a sudden?" Hilary almost slapped her hand over her mouth when she realized she said that aloud. The Hiwatari's glare felt like it was melting through her. "You know what, never mind! It's not like you care anyway!" She accused before she stormed off.

Said "uncaring" boy stood there and watched her go.

'Lovely day,' he thought bitterly.

/Master/ A voice interrupted his angry thoughts.

'What Dranzer,' he growled.

/Hilary is the one who now possesses Black Dranzer…/ Kai's eyes widened as his body became numb.

-x-x-x-x-

And that is where I leave you…

I won't be updating over the weekend because I'm going to a place that doesn't have any computers, so sorry…

Until tomorrow, or Monday…

Emma


	6. Happy Birth Day to Him Prt 2

I'm baaaack! Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

My trip to the shore was awesome, but enough stalling…

On with the fic! (And the torture of Kai)

-x-x-x-x-

'I didn't mean for them to be gone _this_ long…' The main party organizer thought with a frown as he glanced at the clock.

"Rei, how long did you tell her to keep him busy for," Max pulled up the curtain to check the walkway for his two missing friends.

"Not _this_ long," the semi-annoyed boy scowled and crossed his arms.

"Both of you relax and don't start snapping at each other," Kenny commented as he restrained Tyson from eating the cake Rei had somehow managed to cook earlier that day. (1)

-x-x-x-x-

A numb Kai had finally regained enough feeling to decide what he was going to do. He knew it probably wasn't the wisest decision, but it was all he, the tactician, could come up with.

-x-x-x-x-

A dejected looking girl sat on a hill that overlooked a river in a park where all the local kids normally hung out. Right now, besides her, it was deserted. All the other kids were at home with their families, eating dinner.

Said girl sighed softly and hugged her knees to her chest.

'I can't believe him!' She thought angrily. 'He shows up from Russia, we all welcome him with open arms, even me, he _kisses_ me, then gives me the silent treatment for a week! Ugh…he is just impossible!' The brunette was so wrapped up in her angry thoughts that she failed to notice the figure approaching her.

"Hn," a familiar voice remarked from close proximity, causing her to jump. The cold Russian teen that had been the receiving end of all her furious thoughts now sat beside her on the hill. Huffing in annoyance, she turned away from him and crossed her arms.

'It's not like the jerk is gonna apologize,' she grumbled.

"I **do** care…" He spoke up unexpectedly; she started at his sudden input and stared at him. As usual, she could read him as well as she could read the written Russian language. (2)

"…Then how come you've avoided me this past week," the fuming brunette demanded to know. Her companion raised an eyebrow.

"I already explained that…"

"You did, did you? Well, newsflash, Kai Hiwatari, I **don't _have _**a **_boyfriend_**! I thought I did, but he just turned out to be a jerk who's been ignoring me for a week," she yelled at him before storming back towards the dojo.

'What is she talking about…'

/I don't know, master…but Black Dranzer seems to be helping her loose her shyness around you quite quickly…/ All that earned Dranzer was a scowl. /Shouldn't you head back/ Kai stood and followed a bit behind the still-fuming brunette.

-x-x-x-x-

"Hey, someone's coming," Max cried from his post at the window as he hopped down.

"Yaye," Tyson cried, leaping at the cake. A now-irate Kenny held him back, wishing reverently that his best friend didn't like cake as much as he did.

"Did you see who it was," a tired Rei voice the question on everyone's mind.

"Er…no…" Max replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. The question answered itself when Hilary stormed in past them. In the not-so-distance they heard the door to her room slam, then be re-opened quickly. (3)

Still fuming, Hilary stormed back into the room, threw a wrapped present at Rei's head and stomped back out.

After the sound of her door being slammed was heard again, everyone re-emerged from their hiding places to shrug at Hilary's behavior.

The front door being closed with a snap signaled Kai's arrival.

-x-x-x-x-

Hilary's P.O.V.

'I can't believe him! That stupid arrogant jerk! I don't even know why I missed him!' Those thoughts and more flew around my mind as I stormed home and past my shocked friends into my room.

I threw myself down on my bed, wishing it was tomorrow, so I could go to the park and train…and not have to be anywhere near that stupid guy!

I punched my pillow in frustration as I rolled over onto my stomach to look around my room. A scowl re-adorned my face as my eyes lingered on the present I had so carefully wrapped for him.

'Like he even cares!' I growled to myself as I snatched up the present and whipped open the door. So furious I could barely even see straight, I flung the present at Rei and stormed back to the solitude of my room, not bothering to stick around for the ice cube's return. 'He could get coal for all I care!' I vowed as I locked my door. No way was I participating in any merry making involving him!

Even if it _was_ his birth day, he still had no right to be a jerk! I huffed again as I threw myself back down on my bed. I rolled on my stomach and looked out my window to see the night's sky. Another shooting star shot across the sky.

'Thanks a bunch,' I thought bitterly, scowling at it as I punched my pillow to fluff it up before putting my head down on it and trying to ignore the sounds my friends were making. 'Yeah, go ahead, Hiwatari, enjoy your stupid party! I wouldn't come if you begged me to!' Feeling a slight amount of satisfaction as I uttered those words, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

-x-x-x-x-

Normal P.O.V.

Everyone silently exchanged glances as Max, who was near the light switch, turned the lights off. Footsteps that were growing louder signaled Kai's approach.

When the door creaked open, Max threw on the lights and they all leapt out yelling, "SURPRISE!"

Kai stood in the door way, much like a deer in the headlights, and stared at his friends for a moment. Then his gaze slid to the floor and remained there.

"C'mon Kai," Max chirped, grabbing the Russian's arm and leading him over to his pile of presents. "We all chipped in and got you stuff!" The smiling blonde proclaimed, causing his friends to chuckle.

"C'mon!" Tyson whined. "Open your presents!"

Kai's gaze never left the floor.

It was then Rei realized why.

'He's embarrassed,' the black haired blader realized. 'He's never had a birth day party before…he has no idea what to make of all this…' "Guys, don't badger him. He'll open his presents when he feels like it…although I think they want you to open them so they can have some cake…"

"Hey," Tyson and Max cried. Rei lifted an eyebrow as both their gazes went to the floor boards. "Well, I do," Tyson stated in an unashamed tone. Max promptly palmed his forehead. Rei and Kenny sighed.

"Just open them," Kenny mumbled; he was tired of all the shenanigans and had had enough for one night.

Kai pulled the first one off the pile with an impassive face and tore off the wrapping paper. Inside was a brand new attack ring for Dranzer! His face still impassive, he opened all the other presents-except one that looked remarkably like a poster.

Inside them all were pieces for a new blade. And there were enough pieces to assemble a new blade.

"I'll even put it together for you," Kenny offered. "I could probably have it done by morning!" He got no answer.

'All the other presents were from Kon, Granger, Tate and (4)…so…that leaves Hilary's…' He ripped off the wrapping paper to find…a poster of Dranzer. 'Amazing…'

While everyone else was busy with the cake, he casually let the piece of paper drift to the floor. When he stood up, he made a point to step on it.

Rei turned around to offer Kai a piece of cake to find the birth day boy had mysteriously vanished.

"He coulda at least thanked us," Tyson grumbled through a mouthful of cake. Max nodded solemnly; he, at least, remembered not to talk with his mouth full. Although Kenny's sullen mumblings indicated that he agreed, Rei just shook his head and finished dishing out the cake.

'They probably didn't notice how off balance Kai was…he normally makes a point to avoid being the center of attention…in that type of situation at least…' Rei smiled wearily as his teammates, one by one, called it a night and crawled into bed. Sighing, he turned off the light, knowing full-well that come morning, he would be the one cleaning up all the decorations.

All he cared about at the moment was his bed. Even with the others' help, decorating had tired him out.

'We probably could have done without Tyson's help…' He mused as he slipped off his shoes and snuggled under the covers. Without any hesitation, he drifted off to sleep.

-x-x-x-x-

Kai carefully made sure no one else was up as he crept back into the dojo. He had the distinct feeling that Tyson had complained about him not thanking anyone, but he shrugged it off and made for his room, pointedly stepping on the piece of paper on the ground again as he passed.

A small sense of self satisfaction rose within him as he lay down and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

-x-x-x-x-

Hilary stirred in her sleep and her eyes sleepily opened. Blinking blearily, she sat up, stretching her arms and yawning softly.

'What time is it…?' Her sleepy gaze drifted to the alarm clock with neon green letters. 'Only three AM…' She stifled a silent groan as she slid her legs out from under the covers and they hit the cold floor boards.

Biting back a yelp, she untangled herself the rest of the way and headed for the kitchen.

'Some warm milk will help me fall back asleep…' The zombie-like girl decided as she walked through the room where the party was held earlier. Out of habit, she had learned that there were squeaky floorboards on the most direct path to the kitchen, so she skirted around them by walking in between the couch and the coffee table.

Poor Hilary…this was not her night…no sirree, it was not…

As she placed her foot on what she thought was solid floorboard, something slid out from under her foot with a slight ripping sound.

The next thing she knew, she was on the ground, her ankle throbbing. Surprised that she hadn't awoken any of her friends, she angrily searched around for what had made her slip as tears sprang to her eyes after a particularly nasty throb of her ankle. She bit her lip to keep the tears silent as she continued her search for what had made her slip.

Her hand brushed against foreign material, causing it to stop and pluck at it. Frowning, Hilary brought it close to her face, squinting to see what was on it. Straining her eyes further, she brought it mere centimeters from her face, only to drop it like a hot potato. The sound of the front door silently closing beat the paper's descent to the floor.

A picture of a well-drawn Dranzer, almost ripped completely in half, fluttered in the air one last time before landing gently on the floor.

-x-x-x-x-

Chappie over, people!

(1)- how he managed that in between all the chaos, and having Kai not notice is beyond me, so don't ask, okay?

(2)- in this story, Hilary **can't** read Russian, never mind if she can in the series…I only put that there to make a point, nothing more, nothing less…

(3)- okay, you know how there's "whatever….in the distance"? well, I changed it to not-so-distance…the grammar isn't quite correct, but bear with me here…

(4)- insert Kenny a.k.a. Chief's last name here…I don't know it, but if someone does, please message me and let me know!

Well, I know I, for one, pity Hilary…and am currently accepting suggestions of ways to torture Kai for his…jerkness!

Yeah, that's right…jerkness!

Ahem, anyway…

The next update will be out later tonight or sometime tomorrow…it all depends on what I do tonight…

Hope you enjoyed!  
Emma

PS: Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade…if I did, there would be a lot more plot, a lot less blading, Dranzer wouldn't have been destroyed and Hilary would blade too…

That is my (official) beyblade fic disclaimer…

Thanks again to all those who reviewed!


	7. In Which Hilary Disappears

Hi!

Thanks to all who reviewed!

And now…drum roll please…

Without further ado…

Chapter 7

Oh, wait…one more thing…

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade…if I did, there would be a lot more plot, a lot less blading, Dranzer wouldn't have been destroyed and Hilary would blade too…

Now, without further ado…yatta yatta yatta…

-x-x-x-x-

Kai calmly leaned against the wall and watched his teammates file into the room where the party decorations were still up.

Rei's sharp eyes picked up the poster Kai had gotten for his birth day on the floor. Curious, he bent down and picked it up…only to find that it was almost ripped in half.

"Kai, someone ripped your birth day present," he announced before realizing that would only annoy the dual-haired blader. His comment made Kai glance in his direction before looking away.

'I didn't rip it when I stepped on it…' Kai mentally commented.

At a loss for words, Rei continued scrutinizing the poster…there was something awfully familiar about it…

Scowling at his thought…but curious, Rei's gaze drifted to the bottom right hand corner.

Rei dropped the poster as his complexion faded to a dead white.

"Rei," Max asked concernedly as everyone turned to glance at their normally calm and composed friend.

"Kai, you might want to take a closer look at this," the solemn neko-jin stated before picking it up off the ground and handing it to him.

Deciding he would pretend just to have the subject dropped, he took the paper and let his eyes wash over it; a scowl appeared on his face.

There was his footprint and now, it was obviously ripped in half, but Kai didn't notice anything significant about it. He was about to just crumple it up and throw it out when he caught a letter out of the corner of his eye. It was then he noticed the signature in the bottom right hand corner. The paper slipped out of his grasp and fluttered to the floor.

They all saw the signature.

For several moments, there was complete silence before Rei managed to find his voice.

"You think…" His shaky voice cracked. "You think that has anything to do with the fact that we can't find Hil?" The others nodded in unison. "Thought so…"

The only sound in the house was a shuffling of feet as Rei headed towards the kitchen-and the phone.

'Only two people I can think of know Hil well enough to know where she's gone…her mom…and Mariah...' With that in mind, he hurriedly dialed Mariah's number, waiting for her to pick up.

"Hello, Mariah here," a chirpy voice he knew so well answered.

"Mariah, it's Rei…"

"Hold on…I can tell just by your voice that something's wrong…what is it?"

"Hilary…" He began, but his voice cracked again.

"What about Hils! Is she okay! What's wrong!"

"She…she's gone…" He managed out at last.

"Gone!" The confused and half-panicked sounding voice at the other end of the conversation repeated.

"Yeah…"

"Where would she go!"

"I was hoping you could tell me…" Rei's now dull sounding voice replied.

"I…I honestly don't know…I'll be over as quick as I can, and I'll let everyone else know." There was a click as Mariah hung up, and was undoubtedly doing just what she had said. Swallowing a wave of panic, he dialed the number he had memorized incase of an emergency. Well, there was an emergency now!

-x-x-x-x-

Hilary sighed softly as she shifted the bag on her shoulder. Glancing around warily, she pulled her cap down lower over her now-exposed eyes.

'I don't know how fast word travels around here, but I'll just have to be careful…the question is whether to try to blend in in the city or head out to the suburbs…either way, I'll have to be enrolled in school…' A soft sigh escaped her as she headed out of the airport terminal and towards a dusty, lonely road. 'Suburbs it is…'

"Miss Tachibana…" A familiar voice asked hesitantly. It sounded shy but sweet and instantly reminded her of Max.

'It hasn't even been a day yet,' she thought wearily as she turned around to face whoever had recognized her. She froze as her eyes met green ones.

-x-x-x-x-

Rei nervously tapped his foot as the phone rang.

'What is taking so long,' he wondered worriedly. 'Does she already know?'

"Hello? Tachibana residence…may I ask who this is?"

"Hello, Mrs. Tachibana, this is Rei Kon," he replied, managing to keep his voice even.

"Calling about Hilary," the sad but resigned sounding voice inquired wearily.

"H-hai," he replied softly; he swore he could see the woman on the other end of the receiver smile, if it was a bit sad.

"She's gone on an adventure…one she asks that we don't try to interrupt, or follow her on…"

"W-what," Rei choked out.

"She left…I'm assuming she left you a note?"

"No," Rei replied sharply. "We have no note here of any kind…"

"Then whatever chased her off must have occurred there…forgive my saying this, but I think that Kai's return is what caused her to leave…"

"No…it's been a week since Kai came back…if she had wanted to leave before because of him coming back, she wouldn't have waited this long…" He theorized.

"Correct," Hilary's mom commented. "It's up to you to find out why my daughter left…I, however, am going to respect her wishes, and not search for her…"

"Okay," Rei replied and was about to hang up.

"Wait a moment…" Rei paused obligingly. "Just so you know, Hilary will probably come back faster if you don't search for her…" His eyes widened. "Although it is unlikely she did this as a cry for attention, if she did…you would just be giving her what she wanted…" A scowl found itself on Rei's face after that comment.

"Good-"

"I'm not done…the bigger the fuss you make, the less likely she is to come home…" With that, he heard the dial tone, signifying that their conversation had ended. His scowl deepening, he slammed the phone down on the receiver and stalked back into the room that held his teammates.

All of them hadn't moved from their previous positions upon finding out that Hilary had hand drawn it for Kai and someone had messed it up. Big time.

"When I find out who did that to her poster…" Tyson growled.

"Well," Rei began, but Max cut in.

"Isn't it obvious?" All of his teammates immediately stopped their side conversation. They had never heard this tone in Max's voice. "It's ripped because it was on the floor…Hilary probably found it by stepping on it and slipping…and when she slipped on it, she ripped it."

Everyone else just stared at the sullen Max, surprised by first off, how much sense that made...and secondly, how it didn't fit.

"Ripping it was only the icing on the cake…" He supplied.

"Icing on the cake?" Kenny, who was normally in tune to this sort of thing, was completely lost.

"It may have been dark, but Hil has an eye for her art…the footprint right across it sure as hell didn't come from her," he seethed quietly.

Tyson and Kenny exchanged worried glances. Hilary running off had obviously upset Max an awful lot.

"Max, calm down. We'll find her, bring her home and that'll be the end of it," Kai supplied in his normal tone.

"I'm not done," the normally sweet and sugary blonde hissed. "None of us when we went to bed walked through there, or we would have found it before hand."

Rei did not like where this was going.

Max stood, picked up his sweatshirt from a chair, tied it around his waist and headed for the door after checking to make sure Draciel was safely in his pocket. The sound of the front door slamming shattered the heavy silence that had settled in the air after Max's last statement.

"He's implying it's all your fault, Kai…" Kenny summed it up, voicing everyone's thoughts. His reply was a white scarf swishing around the corner and out of sight. The front door slamming left Tyson dumbfounded, Kenny surprised, and Rei downhearted.

"Ironic, isn't it," Rei laughed bitterly. "We finally all just got back together again…"

"…you aren't going to leave to Rei…are you…?" Tyson whispered.

"No…" Rei replied. "Someone has to stick around…besides, Mariah's coming to help and I can't exactly turn up in China and have Lee asking where his sister is…"

"Sensible," Tyson agreed in a hollow tone. Kenny's gaze held pity in it as he watched his long time friend sit there, soaking in the silence.

'Everyone splitting up last time devastated him…last time, at least, Hil and I were still here, and he had us to fall back on…' Kenny reminded himself.

"You survived the "final fight" with Brooklyn, Tyson…" Rei clapped a hand to his shoulder. "If you survived that, you can survive anything…"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence…" Tyson muttered, the corners of his mouth twitching into a small smile.

Kenny and Rei exchanged worried looks over his head.

Today was a bad day. Very bad.

-x-x-x-x-

Hilary just stared at the person who had recognized her. She had completely frozen. The person's green eyes were looking into her ruby colored ones with a slightly surprised look in them.

"Are the Bladebreakers in town then," they asked in a soft voice.

Hilary was wondering where her voice had run off to. All of a sudden, she found the edges of her vision going blurry and breathing became an effort. Everything faded to black.

The last thing she heard was that person's voice calling, "Miss Tachibana! Miss Tachibana," worriedly as it drew closer.

'Oh no…oh god no…' She begged mentally as she completely lost consciousness.

-x-x-x-x-

:The Next Day:

Rei arose with difficulty; even the rays of the sun that kept blinding his eyes weren't helping him get up and get moving.

The events of yesterday trickled back into his mind, one by one, jolting him wide awake. He hurriedly sat up and leapt out of bed. Remembering his phone call to Mariah, he hurriedly got dressed. If there was one thing he knew from experience, it was that Mariah did what she said she would do.

As soon as possible for Mariah, when she was coming from China, would be sometime this morning. Wondering where on earth his sanity had gone to, he slipped into the bathroom to wash his face, brush his hair and brush his teeth.

Just as he finished his morning preparations, he heard the doorbell ring.

'Here we go…' He thought, and braced himself. Taking a deep breath, he walked over and opened the front door to reveal…

-x-x-x-x-

Well, this is where I leave you…and I **_KNOW_** Max is OOC in this chapter, but it's necessary for my plot…

Anyone wanna guess who the mystery person who recognized Hilary is?

Take a stab at it…anyway…

I must admit, I sincerely enjoyed writing this chapter…I wanted to introduce at least one more girl into the story, and I'm glad I finally got to!

Oh, and please, no Mariah bashing…if you're going to leave a nasty comment about her, just don't bother reading from this point on…because she's going to be in this fic from now on…

I'd like to once again, thank all those who took the time review…

And if anyone just decides to flame me, your flame will be used to burn my report cards from school…so go ahead and make my day…

Emma

Ps: I am currently typing up Chapter Nine, if anyone is wondering...I'm getting a bit ahead of myself so it will be easier to update...and from now on I will ONLY be updating once a day, or once every two days...

Thinking up ideas is a fun, creative, and utterly nonsense process, but it's draining...especially if you only got seven hours of sleep!

HINT: next chapter I will be introducing a character...there will be TWO **_major_** plot twists involving her, so try and figure them out! I'll be giving subtle hints all through out the upcoming chapter/chapters...

If you think you HAVE figured it out, kindly drop me a line VIA **e-mail**...if you really have figured it out, I don't want you ruining the plot for everyone else!


	8. Hello BEGA, Dranzer, and an OC

Hi again…

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade…if I did, there would be a lot more plot, a lot less blading, Dranzer wouldn't have been destroyed and Hilary would blade too…

Now that I've put that up for…I don't know how many chapters…

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I appreciate it a lot!

Too bad they don't let us authors (or authoresses) reply to reviews in our stories anymore…oh well…:sigh:

Ha, enough stalling!

On with Chapter 8!

(oO;; I can't believe it's THAT long already…)

-x-x-x-x-

…a bunch of paparazzi!

Rei just kind of stood there, frozen, as a bunch of cameras flashed and reporters shouted questions.

A scowling Tyson marched over, hauled the shell-shocked boy back inside and slammed the door in the paparazzi's face.

"Has…has it been like that all morning," Rei asked when he finally got his bearings. Tyson's scowl deepened as it nodded. "How's Mariah gonna get here then?" Rei massaged his temples with his index fingers, mentally cursing the paparazzi into oblivion.

He was so stressed that he didn't even notice when a separate pair of hands took on the task of massaging his temples. (1)

Tyson smirking at him made him think for a moment, and then he realized there was a pair of hands protruding from behind the couch he had sank onto.

"Took you long enough to notice me," a familiar voice pouted as a familiar head of pink hair bounced into Rei's vision. (2)

-x-x-x-x-

Hilary slowly opened her eyes.

"Hiya," a voice chirped as she saw someone leaning over her.

"Ahh!" She cried as she fell of the couch she was on.

"We warned you not to do that, Ming Ming," a bored Garland commented from where he was practicing martial arts on a side of the room that had been cleared out.

Trying to calm her frantically beating heart, she looked around the room.

Mystel was sitting on another chair, and appeared to be calmly observing everyone else. Crusher was…somewhere…just not there. Brooklyn was sitting on a chair facing her and when he caught her gaze, he gave her a weak smile.

She gave him a weak smile and leaned her head back against the sofa, feeling faint again.

"Please don't faint again…" Ming Ming whispered. "It kinda freaked Brooklyn out…"

"Freaked him out," she murmured weakly. Ming Ming nodded, not catching that Hilary was freaked out herself.

Garland watched them and figured out what they were talking about almost immediately.

"Isn't it time for you three to start practice," he asked pointedly.

All three of them left, Brooklyn a little reluctantly. As soon as he was sure they were all out of earshot, Garland approached Hilary.

"Let me guess…you're afraid of Brooklyn…" She nodded hesitantly. "Yeah…he gets that a lot…" A bit of sadness crossed her face.

"It's just…"

"He was pretty scary?" Once again, she nodded hesitantly. "Well, I won't pretend all of us weren't nervous around him at first, because we were…but we got used to who he is pretty quickly…"

"Truth is, I'm kinda hiding from the Bladebreakers so…I was kinda shocked to be recognized on the first day of my "disappearance"…"

"You took off? Pardon me for saying this, but you don't seem the type…" Hilary smiled faintly.

"I don't…but I left just the same…"

"All I ask is that you don't hurt Brooklyn…it took us this long to get him to even come out of his self-imposed…"

"Torture?"

"In so few words…yes…" The look on Garland's face made Hilary glad Brooklyn had at last him to depend on.

"I'd stick around and try to help…but with other bladers all around the globe is the first place they'll look…with you guys would probably be the last place they **would** look because I don't exactly get along with girls like Ming Ming, no offence…but I've got to go…"

"Understood," Garland nodded. "Just leave a note so Brooklyn doesn't panic please…"

"No problem," Hilary smiled as the captain left so she could "mysteriously" disappear. After a few minutes of searching, she found her bag. Smiling faintly, she pulled out a pad of paper and a pen, and scribbled a quick note.

-x-x-x-x-

"How long have you been here," Rei mumbled.

"Hm…since about 5 AM this morning," Mariah answered. When she saw Rei's eyes widen, she knew he was about to start with the whole "why didn't you wake me up, I'm the host, etc." speech, so she placed a finger to his lips.

Rei, who was thrown completely off balance, stopped what he was saying immediately and a faint tinge of pink appeared on his cheeks.

"Good…now that I have your attention…first of all, relax…second of all, even you, yes you, the great Rei Kon, needs his sleep, so don't start with the "I'm the host" lecture…I'm too tired to deal with it…" She mumbled with a soft yawn.

"But Mariah," he began, but when she rested her head on his shoulder, he stopped instantly again.

"Too…tired…" She murmured sleepily and snuggled into the crook of his neck. Beet red, Rei picked her up and carried her to his room. He figured Hilary wouldn't want any of the guys in her room, even just him. The girl in his arms stirred a bit. "Smells…like…cinnamon apple…" She mumbled softly as she rested her forehead against the crook of his neck.

Said male neko-jin blushed immensely and fought with the door to make it open. A hand slid past him and his passenger to open the door. Rei shifted slightly to see Tyson standing next to him with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't think Hilary would want any of us in her room," he stated defensively.

"You smell like cinnamon apples?" The now-cherry red Rei ignored his friend's question and beat a retreat to his room. Sighing softly, he gently placed Mariah on his bed and carefully covered her with the sheet and blanket.

'Lee will kill me if his little sister gets sick while I'm supposed to be watching her,' he decided as he left his room, and was careful to shut the door behind him. He didn't want her waking up until she decided to.

/That's a lie and you know it…/ A familiar voice commented.

'Black Dranzer!'

/The one and only…my mistress is currently on her adventure, but she did ask me to check up on you guys every so often…/

He heard the semi-dark chuckle the phoenix produced because of the look on his face.

'Yeah…it's hilarious…'

/Relax, lightning kitty…/

Rei had to resist the urge to bare his fangs.

/I'm only kidding…sheesh, you're almost as testy as Dranzer…/

'And?'

/I just was sent to check up on you guys…Mariah there yet/

'How…'

/Allow me to say my mistress knows you quite well…/

'Yes…Mariah is here…'

/Thanks…enjoy your day/

Rei just paused and stood there blinking for a moment.

'Did she really just…no…' He shook his head. 'Evil phoenixes don't go around thanking people and telling them to enjoy their days…'

/Apparently this one does…/ Driger commented before resuming his reunion with Galax. (3) Rei scowled and sat back down on the couch.

'How would Mr. Granger have gotten rid of the paparazzi…' He thought and smirked. "Hey Tyson…" Said bluette popped his head in the room. "I've got a job for you…" Rei whispered his idea in Tyson's ear.

"I like the way you think, Rei Kon…" Tyson stated with a smirk. Rei's reply was a smirk of his own.

-x-x-x-x-

'Best of luck Brooklyn…I hope you come back out of your shell someday…' Hilary prayed mentally as she slipped out the bathroom window, the last place she expected to find Brooklyn.

Luck was with her, for once…or maybe I decided to make that easier than it should have been…ahem, either way…

She snuck out and was back on the road in a matter of a half an hour. Sighing softly, she moved to the shade of the trees.

'My hat will keep the ticks off…' The girl noted as she moved so was walking under the shade of the trees by the side of the road she was following. One of the bushed nearby rustled, causing her to tense up and put a hand on her blade.

A person, or a girl to be more exact, emerged from the shrubbery.

"Oh…" She said blankly as she saw Hilary, who had just sighed silently in relief. "Hi."

"Hi," Hilary returned wearily. 'Just what I need…another person around…'

"Mind if I walk with you," the girl asked.

'She seems harmless enough…' "Okay…" Both started walking, side by side, although there was a bit of distance in between them.

"Do you know Kai Hiwatari?" Hilary stopped dead, and so did her new companion.

"Yes…"

"Do you know where I can find him?"

"I know where he was…or should be, anyway…"

"I need to find him is all…"

"You and every other girl in the world," Hilary muttered bitterly.

"Not for the same reason you might think…I don't want to mob him or get his autograph, like some random rabid fan girl…guys are guys, not things to drool over…"

"Finally, someone who's a girl that I can agree with about boys!"

"Although Max Tate is kinda cute…"

"Yeah…wait, what!" Hilary's delayed reaction caused the girl to chuckle. "I like Kai! Not Max!" The girl's calm gaze was on Hilary, who was opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water.

"Okay…I'll take it you're not a fan girl though?"

"Fan girl!" Hilary seethed. "I **loathe** fan girls!"

"Okay, I'll take your word for it," the girl replied, holding her hands up in surrender.

"What's your name anyway…?"

"Just wondering?" A nod from Hilary signaled that she could safely answer. "My name's Kira…"

"Nice to meet you, Kira. I'm Hilary…Hilary Tachibana…"

"The girl from the Bladebreakers?"

A depressed nod was her answer.

"So…do you blade?"

"Sort of…"

An eyebrow was raised in her direction.

"What?"

"How do you sort of blade," Kira asked in a genuinely puzzled tone.

"Well…I have all the equipment, even a bitbeast, but I can't control my bitbeast…" Hilary's tone grew more bummed when she realized that Kai had probably seen her abysmal control. 'Wait, why do I care! He obviously doesn't!'

"Well, that makes two of us then…"

"Huh," Hilary mumbled, startled.

"I can't completely control my bitbeast either…then again, it **is** a powerful bitbeast…"

"…so powerful that not even one of the best bladers in the world could control it…" The brunette murmured softly.

"Hm…I don't know about that," her new friend replied. "None of them have ever had it…" A small sigh escaped her. "But after the way that Tyson guy handles Dragoon, I should think my bitbeast would be a piece of cake…"

"Cheesecake," Hilary suggested, causing both of them to giggle slightly.

"Mmm…sounds good," Kira agreed, causing a new round of giggles. It was then Hilary noticed something unusual about the girl's hair.

"How does your blonde hair have blue highlights, but they don't look green?"

"I honestly don't know…I was born with these," the girl shrugged.

"Really?" A nod. "That's kinda cool." Another nod. "Reminds me of someone else I know…" The girl cocked her head to the side in an inquisitive manner. "Kai." The girl nodded again. "Don't feel like talking?"

"Nah…" A soft yawn escaped the girl. "I didn't get much sleep last night…you?"

"I'm not quite used to riding on planes, but I did manage to catch some shut eye…"

"If you wanna work on your control, I know of a place around here…"

"Sounds cool, but I can't stick around too long…"

"Why not," it seemed the girl's inquisitiveness had returned.

"I'm…sort of on the run…" The girl's ears perked up on that one.

"Sounds like fun!"

-x-x-x-x-

(1)- NO NOT TYSON!

(2)- you have serious mental issues if you don't know who that is…

(3)- Galax is Mariah's bitbeast for anyone who didn't know that…

Note: Ming Ming wasn't doing anything…she was just leaning over her, like waiting for her to wake up…got it?

Anyone wanna step up and say what they think of my suspicious OC?

And, that, I'm afraid, is where I must end it…

What can I say? I had to deal with (and still do!) authors and authoresses who put EVIL cliffies at the end of each chapter…so I'm returning the favor…:smirks:

:laughs: Kidding, kidding…oh, and sorry for my pointless rambling at the end of each chapter…I'm just bored…insanely so…what can I say? (that I haven't already said anyway!)

Oh, and I'm starting a new "feature" at the end of each chapter…

If you can manage to suffer through my insane babbling, you get to read the next chapter title! (which is a hint about the plot of the next chapter in case you didn't pick up on that)

(Hiking is NOT For the Faint of Heart)  
Emma

Ps: I don't know if that will all fit, so…we'll see…The next few chapters are going to focus on Hilary and my OC…and their adventures, as hinted by the next chappie's title…


	9. Hiking is NOT for the Faint of Heart

Hello…again…

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade…if I did, there would be a lot more plot, a lot less blading, Dranzer wouldn't have been destroyed and Hilary would blade too…I also do not own Linkin Park…or their song, "Somewhere I Belong"…

Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Now, onto Chapter 9!

(oO;; I still cannot believe how long this story is already!)

WARNING: I will be jumping ALL OVER THE PLACE in this chapter…so don't try to skim over it, because you WILL get lost…

-x-x-x-x-

"Fun?" Hilary couldn't believe what the girl had just said.

"Yeah!" The girl verified.

"Well…I guess I could use someone to talk to…"

"Well, I do know my way around here, so I can get you out of the area faster…"

"True," the brunette commented thoughtfully as she considered her options. "Alright…but could you take me to the training area first?"

The girl nodded and glanced about warily before crossing the road. Once she was sure there were no cars coming, she motioned Hilary to follow her. After she had done so, and they had walked another yard or two, they heard the unmistakable sound of a car approaching.

"You said you were on the run, right," Kira verified; Hilary nodded. "Then come on!" She grabbed Hilary's wrist and tugged them both into the bushes before the person in the car could have possibly seen them.

It was a few minutes after the car had passed that they dared move again.

"Phew…" Hilary sighed softly.

"See?" Kira whispered excitedly. "It's just like being a secret agent!" When Hilary just kind of stared at her blankly, she grinned. "You sneak around and hide from people!"

'Hm…she has a point, when you think about it that way…' Hilary silently agreed.

"To the training area?" At Hilary's nod, they set off, deciding the stick to the cover of the trees and other shrubbery…

-x-x-x-x-

"HIYAH!" Tyson yelled as he leapt down the steps at the paparazzi, kendo stick in hand. Needless to say, the paparazzi cleared off pretty quickly after that. "That was too much fun!" He turned and high-fived the "master mind" behind the idea.

"I think I'd like to be the one to do that next time…" Rei commented dryly.

"We can both do it…both of us know the paparazzi will be back before long…" A smirk that had wormed its way onto Rei's face was making him nervous. "What?"

"I sure as heck hope none of them got a picture of you, Tyson…" With that, the neko-jin headed inside, chuckling to himself.

"WHAT!" Tyson shouted after him.

"Look down," the neko-jin called over his shoulder.

Scowling and mumbling about how he could have just said so, Tyson looked down.

There was a huge hole in the front part of the traditional kendo training garb he had worn. Mumbling curses upon himself for being so clumsy last time he had worn them, he stormed back inside before the whole world got to see his pink and purple polka dotted boxers.

-x-x-x-x-

"She's gone…" Brooklyn commented as his teammates filed back into the room after an exhausting practice. Garland sank into the cushions of the couch before he decided to answer.

"Hilary told me she couldn't stay…she's "on the run" from the Bladebreakers…she didn't quite give me a reason why, but I heard that Kai's back…" Garland commented blandly.

"Urgh…who wouldn't leave now that that jerk is back!" Ming Ming agreed angrily. Crusher remained silent; he didn't feel this discussion was any of his business. Mystel shrugged, but silently agreed.

"Apparently, Kai left not too long after she did…Max left first, though…"

"Tyson must be upset…" Brooklyn commented, his bangs covering his eyes.

"Yeah…" Ming Ming agreed; this caused Garland to ponder for a moment.

"I'll be right back…" He told them as he stood, ignoring his protesting, sore muscles and headed into the kitchen. Glancing around to make sure none of his teammates were about, he picked up the phone and silently dialed a number.

-x-x-x-x-

Max sullenly glared out the window and at the water below.

'There's no way I'm going to stick around and deal with that insufferable jerk…it's his fault Hilary's gone!' The fuming blonde was too absorbed in his angry thoughts to notice that his lunch had arrived; the stewardess just sat the tray next to him and moved on to the next person.

Eventually, the smell of food caught his attention and he grudgingly pushed his angry thoughts aside while he ate.

'I didn't know I was this hungry…' He polished off his lunch in record time and returned to staring out the window. That was when he started to notice the whispers.

"Hey! Look! Over there! It's Max Tate, from the Bladebreakers!"

"Wow, no kidding! Do you think he'd give us his autograph?"

"Forget his autograph, what if he could get us Kai's!"

The slight smile that had begun to form on his face as he stared at the window slid off, and his stare returned to a glare.

'This is going to be a fun trip…' Max grumbled. 'Why didn't I just accept Mr. Dickenson's offer to ride on a private plane?...oh yeah…because that jerk was going to be on it too…' His scowl deepened as the whispers increased in volume and more people joined the conversation. 'This is better than dealing with him…'

With that resolution, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep…just to spite the whisperers.

-x-x-x-x-

Kai's gaze never left the window, even when the lunch tray was placed beside him. He had no desire to eat and so he wouldn't.

'What did she mean…?' The dual haired blader kept asking himself, completely lost.

/Sorry to be blunt, master…but she meant what she said…/

'What?'

/Mariah and Rei are…well, if Galax and Driger have anything to say about it, they'll be together by the end of the month…/

'Tachibana and Kon are going out,' he sneered. 'So now Kon's cheating on her?'

/MASTER/ Dranzer shrilled at the top of his lungs. /Rei and Hilary were never going out! It's your fault they became that close anyway, so stop it/ Kai froze.

'…my fault…I fail to see how this is all my fault!' He snapped back.

/It is! You just assumed they were! All they are is really good friends! If you hadn't run off in the first place, they never would have even become that! So…shut up…/ Dranzer growled and retreated to his bitchip angrily, leaving an extremely worked up Kai to his thoughts.

-x-x-x-x-

Everyone looked up when a smirking Garland entered the room. His smirk never wavered as he walked in and sat down. They exchanged glances; whatever was going on, he was taking his time telling them about it.

"So…what's the big news…" Ming Ming was the first to break the silence. After he didn't answer, the others decided they wanted to know.

"Well?" Mystel voiced their thoughts.

"C'mon! Tell," Crusher scowled.

"Please," Brooklyn begged.

Garland smirked; he was loving every minute of this.

"Well…"

"Tell!" Ming Ming pounced on him, causing both to roll off the couch and on to the floor; they ended up in a tangle of arms and legs.

Crusher and Brooklyn gaped, and Mystel just stared as Ming Ming scurried away from the team captain hurriedly, after untangling herself.

"You see…"

-x-x-x-x-

"Are we…:huff: there…:huff: yet…?" The tired brunette gasped.

"Almost…it's only another mile…" With a groan Hilary sat down on a rock and massaged her throbbing ankle. "Did something happen to your ankle?" A slight nod was all Hilary allowed herself. A sigh made her look up to find that Kira had pulled a roll of bandages out of a carefully camouflaged bag.

"Where did that come from," she asked softly.

"I live in these woods," the girl shrugged and motioned for her to pull her pant leg up so she could bandage her ankle. Curious, Hilary watched as she quickly and efficiently bound her ankle.

'It's loose enough not to cause me any pain, but tight enough to help support my ankle…she's even better at this than Rei!' "How'd you get so good at this…?" A shadow of grief slid across her face, and hid in her eyes before vanishing.

"When you live on your own, you learn to be self sufficient…"

-x-x-x-x-

'Why do I smell cinnamon apples…' Mariah wondered as she slowly opened her eyes. When she saw nothing familiar, she sat up hurriedly and crawled out from under the covers. 'Where am I?' Looking around, she noted several things that made her sure of one thing at least. 'I'm in a boy's room…but…the last thing I remember is Rei…' Cautiously, she tip toed across the floor, careful not to step on anything, and opened the door quietly.

Her surroundings still didn't look familiar.

"Mariah?" A voice asked. Terrified, she turned around as the world went black.

-x-x-x-x-

Hilary sighed as her guide vanished among the trees. Making sure she wasn't around, Hilary slipped some extra bandages she had packed out of her bag and unwound the bloody and slightly pussy bandages that had covered her hand.

Wincing mentally, she began to wrap her hand up again.

'I hope this doesn't get anymore infected!' She wished reverently, biting her lip to keep from screaming as she tied the final knot.

"Something happen to your hand," Kira asked; Hilary almost jumped out of her skin.

"T-two days ago," Hilary stuttered. 'When did she get back? How does she do that?'

"Indeed…" Kira's gaze drifted to her hand and she sighed. "Would you like me to re-wrap that for you?" Abashedly, Hilary nodded. "Don't worry…by the time we get wherever you want to go, I'll have taught you how to bandage yourself properly…" She watched as the other girl's fingers moved deftly over her sloppy bandages, tightening them, and neatening them. "Tomorrow…or whenever you change your bandages, put this on your wound and the bandages too…"

Seemingly out of nowhere, Kira pulled out a small jar of ointment. Hilary shrugged it off, figuring that she had another "stealth" bag around here somewhere and carefully stowed the jar in her own bag.

Approaching the seemingly younger girl, she noted her expression was wary.

"Is…is something wrong?" To Hilary's surprise, her wary expression deepened into a scowl.

"I'm not sure…but something's definitely amiss…"

"What kind of something?" Hilary glanced around, her hands on her blade and launcher.

"I honestly don't know…but whatever it is…it's bad…"

"How do you know?"

"I have a…sixth sense…about this sort of thing…"

"I'll take your word for it…" Hilary's eyes darted around in search of a big stick.

"No, our blades, even if we can't completely control them, are the best weapons we have…" Kira was more alert and wary than Hilary had seen her so far.

"Let's continue to the training area…" The brunette watched as the blonde's eyes flicked back towards her for a moment, but nodded.

Both started forward, wary, and ready to tackle whatever came their way…or so they thought…

-x-x-x-x-

Max's eyelids felt heavy, but he lifted them anyway. It was then he noticed that the whispers had gotten a lot closer.

The group that had been whispering about him and observing him from across the aisle and up the rows now sat directly behind him.

'Maybe going to sleep wasn't the best thing I could have done…' He realized as he picked up his headphones and slid them on over his ears. Then he proceeded to drown everyone out with Linkin Park's "Somewhere I Belong". Satisfied with his new idea, he smiled contentedly as he gazed out the window.

-x-x-x-x-

Kai was extremely annoyed. Not only did he feel stupid, but Dranzer refused to even talk to him.

'It's two day after my birth day…so now everyone's ganging up on me…yes, today is just awesome…'

/Sarcasm isn't appreciated/

'Dranzer-'

/Save it…you'll hear no more from me until you apologize/

'I don't apologize…'

/…/

'Damn it!' Kai began mentally cursing the day he had met "that pathetic cheerleader".

/Serves him right…he needs some humility, anyway…/

-x-x-x-x-

OWARI!

:chuckles: Kidding! It's only the end of this chapter!

The next chapter title:

Battle for Being

I wonder what they (as in Kira and Hilary) will encounter…don't you:evil smirk: Until next time, adios amigos…and amigas…  
Emma

Ps: thanks again to those who reviewed!


	10. Battle for Being

Hola…

Since I finished with chapter nine, and FF.N is being :string of curse words: I figured I'd do chapter 10 while I was waiting…

Note: while I was planning on making this a full-fledged story, I was not expecting it to be this long…oh well…

ENJOY!

One more thing: THANKS TO ALL WHO REVIEWED!

ACK!...never mind…I thought I had forgotten Mariah...ahem, on with the story…

-x-x-x-x-

"…something is wrong…" Hilary muttered; she could sense it now too. A faint nod was her reply as her companion eye's warily scanned the clearing.

"A cover…" The other girl stated, tensing, as though about to spring.

Dark grey storm clouds quickly formed in the sky, blocking out the sun as the wind began to howl eerily. Not much later, a fog rolled in…a thick, sound muffling, fog…

"Not good," Kira murmured, more to herself than Hilary. It was then Hilary began to see the outline of forms in the fog.

"W-what…" She stuttered. What came into sight made her scream.

-x-x-x-x-

"…I called Mr. Dickenson…" All eyes were now riveted on the smirking captain.

"And," Ming Ming asked in a voice barely above a whisper. Garland waited a few minutes just to prolong the agony before he sighed and informed them.

"He's sending us to the Granger Dojo to try and help cheer Tyson up…"

"He is," Brooklyn's soft voice questioned.

"Yep…apparently someone else is already there to extend their support to what's left of the Bladebreakers…"

"Who," Crusher finally spoke.

"Mariah," Garland replied.

"…hadn't we better get packing?" Ming Ming suggested timidly.

There was a flurry of motion as everyone ran towards the hallway where their rooms were. Brooklyn sighed and allowed himself a small smile as he followed behind his panicking teammates.

-x-x-x-x-

"Mariah? Mariah!" A voice called through the darkness.

'Whoever it is…they sound really worried…time to…wake UP…' With a bit of effort, Mariah dragged herself back to consciousness to see a panicked Rei sitting by her side. Looking around, she found that she was back in the bed she had woken up in.

"Mariah!" Rei's shaky voice brought her back to the present. It was then she noticed Rei was pale and shaking.

"Rei, are you okay?" She gazed at him imploringly.

"I-I'm fine…" He returned, looking away to avoid her eyes.

"Rei…" Mariah begged, placing a hand on Rei's shoulder. When she found the muscles underneath her hand shaking and tense at the same time, she knew something was up. "Did something happen when I was asleep?" Him shaking his head no only made her worry more. "What is it then?" His gaze fell to the floor. "Rei?"

"…you scared me, you know…" His voice sounded tired, but it was filled with emotion nonetheless.

"Scared you…you mean when I fainted?" He nodded. "I'm sorry Rei…" She paused to think for a moment and grinned. "You scared me first," she accused jokingly.

The melancholy look on his face told her he had missed her kidding tone.

"Rei, I was only kidding…"

"…you scared me…" He murmured, his golden eyes bright with unshed tears.

"Rei…oh crap! It's NMS…Rei, just calm down…" Said neko-jin complied by resting his head on her shoulder, the melancholy look still present on his face. "Relax…just relax…" She murmured, wrapping an arm around him and resting her head on top of his.

-x-x-x-x-

Someone tapped him on his shoulder. Knowing exactly who it was, he ignored them and continued happily listening to his song.

'Ignorance is bliss,' he reflected silently as he watched mile after mile of ocean pass under his window. 'Almost there!' He cheered mentally upon sighting a thin strip of land that was growing slightly bigger as the minutes passed.

-x-x-x-x-

Meanwhile, our Russian friend was currently working on plans to find Hilary…although apologizing wasn't quite what he had in mind…

Or was it?

-x-x-x-x-

"Is that everything," Garland checked as he looked at the six bags piled up by the door.

"I believe so…" Brooklyn commented from his usual perch on the couch.

'Something tells me this trip isn't just for Tyson's benefit…' Mystel figured.

'Hopefully Brooklyn and Tyson will be able to snap both of them back to their former selves…' Garland theorized. 'I don't know what the heck to do if not!'

'Hm…I have my cute pink outfit…and my matching blue sundress…and my make up…' While everyone else was thinking about the trip and what lay ahead, Ming Ming was doing a mental check list to make sure she forgot nothing. 'Yep, I'm ready!'

'How am I supposed to help Tyson when I can't even help myself…?' Brooklyn wondered as he and his teammates picked up their bags. The group headed out down the stairs, out the door and into the crowded street below. 'Why can't I…' His thoughts were interrupted by people who were passing skirting around him and whispering. 'That's why…'

"Ignore them," a familiar voice whispered. He turned, and to his surprise, it was Ming Ming. "They're just jerks…they don't know what we went through…what you went through…just hold your head high and ignore them…"

"Thanks Ming Ming…but I don't think I can pull that off…" He replied while looking down. Someone walking past banged into him.

"Watch where you're going, freak," the person hissed and glared at him. Brooklyn took off down the street, leaving the man to deal with four **very** angry teens…all of whom were capable of doing some serious damage to the man.

Just as Garland was about to start forward, Ming Ming leapt forward and slammed a fist into the man's face.

"Take that!" She yelled as he fell to the ground, nursing a bloody nose. "And the one who's a freak is you!" The infuriated girl stormed after Brooklyn, making sure to stomp on the man's fingers as she passed. (1)

-x-x-x-x-

'Oh my god…' Hilary thought as she watched the things approach. "What the hell are they!" She cried aloud.

"Zombies," Kira replied grimly and backed up a bit.

"Hello little girls…" The first one said, leering at them with a mouth that was either missing teeth or had rotten ones. "You are going to join us…" All the others leered at the girls as well.

'Crap…' Kira thought as she scrambled up a tree. Hilary was frozen. She had no idea what to do and the only person who might have been her ally had abandoned her.

'I'm doomed,' she panicked, backing up slightly as the undead beings advanced upon her.

The next thing she knew, something had leapt down from the tree with a yell of "HIYAH!" Standing in front of her was Kira, a huge branch in her hands.

"Then again, a big branch does wonders…" Kira smirked; Hilary mutely nodded. Despite Kira's best efforts, she couldn't quite keep the zombies at bay. "Launch your blade."

Hilary stared at her, too frozen to respond.

The zombies started to overwhelm Kira, and forced her to draw away from the defenseless Hilary.

"Launch your blade!" Kira shouted at her, now a few feet away. The zombies were wasting no time, and hurried forward at Hilary. "LAUNCH YOUR BLADE HILARY TACHIBANA!"

At the sound of her shout, Hilary was unfrozen; she almost screamed, but hurriedly pulled out her blade and launched it.

Without a word of direction, Black Dranzer demolished all the zombies. That, however, didn't prevent Kira from continuing to take swipes at the ones that were nearby.

Feeling her job done, Black Dranzer hopped back into Hilary's hand, startling her mistress out of her train of thought.

"Shall we?" Hilary stared at the girl who calmly threw her stick at a pile of zombies, causing a sickening crack

"Hang on a second…didn't you say you had a blade?" A scowl from the brunette made her sigh.

"I do…but I'm…physically unable…to use my blade…"

"Let me get this straight…you live on your own, and yet you're physically unable to blade?" Hilary's disbelieving look almost made her smile.

"Do you remember the battle Kai had with Brooklyn?" Her reply was a nod. "Battles almost as violent as that have been springing up all over the world…and I cannot handle the physical strain."

"Behind you!" Hilary shouted as a zombie both Black Dranzer and Kira had apparently missed popped up.

Kira was completely paralyzed.

'Argh…I can't move,' she growled mentally as she fought vainly to regain control over her limbs. 'Must be…some sort of…spell…' She mumbled as she fought to move. The smirking zombie slashed abnormally long fingernails across the immobile girl's shoulder, and sent her flying into a tree.

A trail of blood marked the path where she flew through the air until she met the tree.

Hilary pulled out her blade and was about to launch it at the thing, almost completely consumed by anger, but something darted out of nowhere and sliced the zombie to zombie sushi.

A glowing white dragon flew over to the stationary Kira. Panic stricken , Hilary rushed over as well.

'I haven't known her for long…but I wouldn't want her to leave…' She realized as she ran to someone she felt she could honestly call her friend's side. "Are you okay!" A small nod was her answer. "Do…do you need some help bandaging it?"

"No," replied Kira slowly. "I think I can manage…" The glowing white dragon dropped a bag in the blonde's lap before soaring off and vanishing into the trees. As Kira began the tedious task of cleaning out and bandaging her cut, Hilary mulled something over.

"Ano…what was that…?" A frazzled Hilary wondered aloud.

"My bitbeast," a voice tight with pain replied tersely.

"Bitbeast?"

"Aa…even though I'm physically unfit to blade, and can't summon her, she still managed to come to my rescue…Thank you, Immi…" She murmured the last part more to the presence she still sensed nearby than Hilary.

"Immi?"

"The Immortal White Dragon…Immi for short…" Biting her lip, Kira tied the knot on her bandages and stood shakily. "What do you say…"

"We get out of here?" Hilary finished; Kira nodded. "Way ahead of ya!" Grabbing the girl's uninjured arm, she tugged and both ran out of the clearing.

A pair of glowing blue eyes watched them leave the clearing and followed. It wasn't quite sure they were out of danger…yet.

-x-x-x-x-

Brooklyn ran until his lungs felt like they were on fire. Gasping for air, he threw himself down on the ground, completely disoriented.

A soft moaning sound made him look up.

'What the hell!' He screamed mentally as a misshapen, decayed hand reached for him. Hurriedly, he backed away with wide, frightened eyes…to run right into Ming Ming, who was followed by the rest of his team.

Panicked, he tried to tell his teammates what he saw, but he went hysterical instead.

"…any ideas?" Garland asked after Brooklyn had gone into complete overload and had collapsed.

"No…but…that does sound…" Ming Ming began.

"Insane," Crusher finished bluntly.

"Brooklyn's sanity isn't in question here…" Mystel finally spoke up.

"It isn't?" Garland inquired. Without a word, Mystel gestured to a long dead, rotting arm hanging from a tree branch directly overhead.

-x-x-x-x-

Tyson walked into Rei's room to find Rei asleep on Mariah's shoulder.

"What happened," the dumbfounded boy questioned.

"I'd like to explain…but I'll need Rei's help to, so it'll have to wait until he wakes up…" Mariah shifted slightly, although she was careful not to jostle Rei.

"Oh…kay…" Tyson's "okay then" expression made her smile wryly.

"That was _my_ reaction to the whole thing when it was explained to me…"

"Should I get Kenny?" The boy started towards the door after Mariah's nod. Silently wondering about something other than food for once, the puzzled boy started to comb the dojo for his other friend. (2)

-x-x-x-x-

(1)- :sheepish laugh: everyone gets mad sooner or later…for Ming Ming, it was sooner ''''''

(2)- I'm not trying to pick on Tyson here…although that might just be true…XD kidding…Tyson thinks about blading and his friends too!

And so it commences…

Sorry, I got tired of say "the end" and everything synonymous with "the end"…yeah, I end up bored entirely too easily…

I'm too annoyed at the moment to even be thinking ahead, so please don't fault me…I was just trying to upload chapter 9, so I could post it, and it wouldn't let me…I tried **over ten different times**…

At this rate…I'll say "SCREW IT" and go back to the other on-line site where you actually _can_ upload stories…it seems quite tempting at the moment, let me tell you…

Oh well…

And for the record, there were some hints about the plot twists concerning my OC…last chapter, at least, if not this chapter…

Your Frustrated Authoress  
Emma

Ps: GOT IT TO UPLOAD! Thank you, Notepad!

Pss: Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade…if I did, there would be a lot more plot, a lot less blading, Dranzer wouldn't have been destroyed and Hilary would blade too…


	11. The Looney That's Running the Looney Bin

Heylo peoples!

XD Sorry, I'm hyper…I just had a lot of chocolate milk…

Ahem…for future reference, all these authoress notes are at least a day old, since I'm typing them and waiting to upload them…

Truth be told, I have no idea how I keep writing all these chapters, one right after another…normally, it takes me…forever (!) to write more chapters, even in a story I like…eh…oh well…

B.T.Y.: I think this is the chapter where I will be introducing one of the bad guys!

Er…sorry for my ramblings…and on with the story…after the disclaimer, of course!

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade…if I did, there would be a lot more plot, a lot less blading, Dranzer wouldn't have been destroyed and Hilary would blade too…

Now…for once, I will start out the chapter with…Brooklyn! (and the rest of BEGA)

Chapter Title: Meet the Looney Running the Looney Bin!

-x-x-x-x-

Ming Ming's eyes widened and she just gaped at the arm. Mystel's mouth tightened as he gazed around the rest of the clearing.

It was then the mysterious fog vanished…to reveal a clearing full of broken zombie bodies. Scared out of her wits, Ming Ming clung to the nearest thing, which happened to be Garland. Startled, Garland jumped slightly at his teammate's touch, but did not move.

"Will someone pick Brooklyn up so we can get out of here," he directed with a slight sigh.

"Hang on," Mystel approached a pile of the things. "These look like someone fought them…"

"Then where's the weapon," Crusher assessed. Mystel pointed at a huge branch that was on top of the pile. "That couldn't have caused THAT much damage…"

"Someone with a beyblade was here…" A soft voice commented. They all spun to see Brooklyn, who was very much awake. Ming Ming immediately let go of Garland and went over to Brooklyn.

"Are you okay," she inquired worriedly; he nodded slightly.

"Let's just get back to the airport…something's telling me we're needed in Japan…" Mystel commented. The others exchanged glances before picking up their bags and dashing back down the road.

Ming Ming shivered.

"It's that creepy mist again," she murmured, shaking. Garland dropped back and wrapped an arm around her. (1)

"Just keep running…" He told her, speeding up a bit. She increased her pace to match his, but both knew she couldn't keep it up for long.

-x-x-x-x-

Sighing softly, Mariah smoothed Rei's hair gently, watching as the tension on his face slowly faded. Smiling faintly, she leaned back slowly, taking care not to jostle Rei.

Not to long afterwards, Tyson reappeared in the doorway with Kenny in tow.

"Still asleep," Tyson inquired quietly.

"Yeah…" Mariah replied softly.

"Anyone wanna explain," Kenny wondered aloud.

"I need Rei's help to do so…"

"Ah…"

-x-x-x-x-

"Mr. Hiwatari?" Kai glanced up from his musings. "We're nearly in Russia…" When the person he was addressing looked away, he started to walk away.

"Turn the plane around…" His passenger's voice made him freeze.

"W-what, sir?"

"To America." He stated and returned to gazing out the window. Shaken, the co-pilot went to relay his message to the pilot.

"I thought so…" The pilot mused aloud as he turned the plane around.

"You did?"

"Aye," the pilot replied and returned to focusing on the air traffic ahead.

'Hilary, I know you're there somewhere…' Our favorite Russian teen thought as he tried to persuade Dranzer to aid him in his search. Dranzer, smart phoenix that he was, ignored him and stuck to his promise/threat.

-x-x-x-x-

"Okay…" Huffed Hilary as she and Kira collapsed on the ground, out of breath. "Think we're far enough away?"

"No…idea…" Kira answered, as out of breath as Hilary. Both lay there in a companionable silence as their heart rates and breathing returned to normal.

"Why…why are you looking for Kai anyway?"

"…long story…" Hilary rose at her retort, sitting up to see her travel companion's gaze was looking off into the now-blue sky.

"Long story?"

"Very…" A faint smile appeared on her features, but vanished as quickly as it came.

-x-x-x-x-

'Landing time,' Max cheered mentally as the "Fasten Your Seatbelts" sign flared to life. He complied, practically stir crazy. 'I can't wait to get off the plane!' When the plane came to a stop on the runway, he was the first out of his seat with his carry-on bag and was off like a shot.

He was so preoccupied in "escaping" the plane, he failed to notice someone in his way. Crashing into them, he fell to the ground, his bag sliding out of his grasp. When he saw who it was, he couldn't help but gasp faintly.

-x-x-x-x-

"Rei," Mariah inquired softly as he stirred.

"Mariah?" He wondered aloud sleepily as he sat up.

"Rei, you okay," Tyson questioned seriously from where he was on his spot on the floor.

"…aa…" Rei replied.

"Then what's wrong?" Kenny adjusted his glasses.

"It's NMS…"

"NMS?" Tyson repeated with a clueless face; Mariah giggled.

"Neko-jin mating season…unless we're at the appropriate age, nothing will happen…but…both neko-jins in question during NMS will experience a lot of things…like mood swings for me and a major increase of over protectiveness for Rei."

"Wow…" Kenny mumbled in a daze. "How come this isn't on record?"

"Only neko-jins need to know." Rei shrugged.

-x-x-x-x-

They had finally escaped the "creepy mist" as Ming Ming had put it.

"You kids okay," a man asked. "People have been reporting a lot of bodies around…"

"We saw zombies, not bodies…" Brooklyn stated.

"Poor kids," the man stated sympathetically. "Why don't you guys come over here and sit down for a spell?" Reluctantly, they all agreed and sat down.

Garland's eyes narrowed as the man walked away and started talking into his cell phone.

The next thing anyone knew, two men walked up to them and grabbed Brooklyn. The others immediately sprang to their feet and made to intervene, but a man wearing sunglasses approached and stood between them and Brooklyn.

"What do you think you're doing," Garland's silver eyes blazed, and his teammates looked visibly angry as well.

"I'm putting your friend in a mental hospital…it's obvious he needs to be there…" With that, the man disappeared into the crowd.

"They're gone…" Ming Ming murmured.

"Damn," Garland swore. 'I promised Brooklyn we'd never let him go there again!'

"We have to find him," Mystel growled. The others nodded and they split into two groups, searching for him frantically.

:Three hours later:

They met at a tree in the park. Ironically, it was Brooklyn's favorite hangout. When he was there, it was just him and nature. No one judged him, whispered about him as he passed, called him names, or hid in fear. It was his haven, and if he did not have it, he might have gone insane for real.

"Brooklyn is perfectly sane," Crusher insisted angrily as Ming Ming sat at the foot of the tree, Mystel stood by her and Garland paced.

"We know that," the pacing Garland stated. "That guy in the freaky glasses doesn't!"

"I have an idea…" Mystel smirked slightly.

"Care to share," an annoyed Ming Ming quipped. The blonde haired blader nodded.

-x-x-x-x-

"M-Michael!" Max stuttered; his tall teammate was standing in front of him with a smirk quite visible on his face.

"Who else," the boy's smirk only broadened, if that was even possible.

"Hey, we're here too," an annoyed voice piped up. Max turned his head to see Emily and Rick of the Allstarz standing a few feet away.

Rick walked up and helped his "battle buddy" to his feet. Max picked up his suitcase, still in shock.

"How…how did…" He managed to stutter as Emily smirked too.

"Let's just say news travels fast…faster than a regular plane, anyway…"

Max sweatdropped.

"Good point…" Max conceded; the group started walking back to the training facility.

"The media's going crazy! They didn't even know you guys were back together, so imagine their surprise when they found out you guys had split again…" Rick muttered.

"I bet…" Max's eyes traveled downwards, and he almost regretted his rash decision to leave. Then he remembered Hilary's drawing and the knuckles you could see turned white on the handle of his suitcase (2).

"What's up," Emily demanded to know.

"Did the media tell you _why_ we split?" Max's bangs covered his eyes.

"No, they didn't get that piece of information," Michael retorted.

"Figures." The tone in Max's voice startled them all. "It was Kai's birth day and we threw him a party. Hilary drew him a poster that looked better than a store bought one and he stepped on it, like he didn't even care! He probably didn't! She found it at night when she tripped on it and ripped it almost completely in half! We haven't seen nor heard from her again! She's gone!" By now they could see the tears leaking out from under his bangs.

Emily wrapped her arms around him and soothed him as they walked into the center.

Judy looked up and hurriedly took charge of her son.

-x-x-x-x-

Garland, Ming Ming, Crusher and Mystel stood at the receptionist's desk in the front, waiting semi-impatiently for the lady to look up and notice them. He had convinced his friends that politely waiting would do them more good than rudely calling attention to themselves; he knew that by now Ming Ming wanted to haul the lady off and slug her.

'Please, if there are any listening gods, bestow her patience!' He begged mentally. Apparently someone up there heard him; although Ming Ming was glaring and looked about ready to pounce, she was restraining herself.

Finally, the lady looked up.

'About time, you mother f---ing b-tch!' Ming Ming screeched mentally, but did not utter a complaint aloud.

"May I help you," the lady, scratch that, bitch, asked icily.

"Yes," Garland replied in what he hoped was a pleasant tone. "We are here to visit Brooklyn Kingston." (3) The :coughcoughBITCHcoughcough: regarded him over her glasses snootily.

"And who are you to even be here," she inquired snobbily.

"His team," the seething Ming Ming hissed with enough venom to kill a blue whale in under ten seconds flat.

"His team," the lady (:coughcoughBITCHcoughcough: ) sneered.

"Yes. His beyblading team. We're the former BEGA team," Garland answered.

"The warden said no one is to see him," the lady (:coughcoughBITCHcoughcough: ) went back to her paper work. (4)

'Playtime is over,' his grey eyes flashed with anger as he walked up to the desk and placed his hands on it, leaning towards the lady (:coughcoughBITCHcoughcough: ) "Listen up, you little wench! We came here to see our friend and if you don't let us see him, some legal action will be taken on account of your lovely warden snatching our friend off the street!" He hissed and almost smirked as the lady's (BITCH'S) face drained of its color. "Well," he snarled.

"V-very well…w-who did you-?"

"Brooklyn Kingston," Ming Ming hissed again.

"A-ano, room 241!"

"Thank you," Garland smirked nastily and followed his team to find the room.

The receptionist sat in her seat, stock still. No one was ever able to intimidate her before.

-x-x-x-x-

'I can't believe it…I can't believe it!' Were his only thoughts as he sobbed into his knees. 'They promised! They **promised**!'

/Master Brooklyn…they tried…I saw their faces. They will come for you…/

'They said I'd never be back here!' A fresh wave of sobs wracked his body as he clenched his legs tighter.

/They're right outside/

'I don't care!'

"Brooklyn?" A pair of worried silver eyes appeared between the tiny bars on his door. He just turned away and pretended they weren't there. His body froze in shock when he heard the sound of the door being unlocked.

-x-x-x-x-

(1)- there was a mist around them when they ran off to find Brooklyn...to clarify: the mist is sort of a teleporter/inbetween thing...aka it got them from one place to another place that they could not possibly have reached in that amount of time. It did the same thing to Brooklyn, and Hilary...but not Kira.

(2)- he wears gloves that partially cover his hands, right?

(3)- I was told that was his last name, so don't sue me if it isn't!

(4)- alright, if anyone can come up with a painful/bloody enough way for her to be killed, I'll use it!

Meet bad guy numero uno! He'll be back…soon…_very_ soon.

I honestly had all too much fun torturing the receptionist…don't worry, she'll get her "just desserts"…remember to send me ways to kill her off!

Thanks for reviewing!

No preview this chapter either…sorry!

Emma


	12. A Meeting and a Sepratation

Well, now that I took my time finishing chapter 11, I'm gonna write up chapter 12 quite quickly, thank you…

…after the disclaimer anyway…

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade…if I did, there would be a lot more plot, a lot less blading, Dranzer wouldn't have been destroyed and Hilary would blade too…

Enjoy!

B.T.Y.: I did **not** enjoy torturing Brooklyn last chapter…however, this miiiight change a part of my plot…:shrugs: it wasn't set in stone anyway…

Hm…we'll see…

Oh, and thanks to everyone who reviewed!

-x-x-x-x-

Brooklyn gaped as his friends all piled into the room and shut the door behind them.

"We know you're mad at us…but we came to rescue you just the same," Mystel stated as the others smiled.

"You…you did?" It was then they saw the tearstains. All were by his side in an instant. "Thanks guys…" He murmured weakly as the darkness consumed him.

-x-x-x-x-

"So…"

"I think we should stay here for the night…especially since you got hurt…" Hilary's gaze had found Kira's gauze plastered shoulder again.

"Hilary, it's noon," the blonde scowled as she blew a blue highlight of her eyes.

"So? You're hurt!"

"That's the point. It **_doesn't_** hurt…I put a special herb on it so that it numbs the pain. The same herb is in the salve I gave you…"

"I know. It works really well!"

"Then why won't you let us continue?"

"Well…" Hilary scowled and raised her eyes to the sky. "I just…I have this feeling we need to stay here, okay!" Hilary's ruby red eyes blinked in surprise when she saw her companion's fiery grey laughing.

"Remember how I trusted _my_ sixth sense?" Hilary nodded. "Why wouldn't I trust yours?"

"I'm not sure **I** trust mine," Hilary grumbled.

"You'll learn…or just learn to ignore it…one or the other…we're setting up camp, then?"

"Yeah…"

As soon as she said that, Kira was off like a shot. Hilary sighed.

'How am I gonna keep up with her? She's injured and she still has loads of energy! It's insane…' The brunette decided as she followed her friend and assisted in setting up camp.

-x-x-x-x-

Judy sighed as she looked at the sleeping Max's face.

'He sounded fine on the phone…I guess he didn't want to worry me…' She gently brushed a hair away from her son's eyes. 'Why Kai always upsets everyone is beyond me…' Her eyes hardened. 'But he won't be hurting my son anymore.'

-x-x-x-x-

The two girls lazed in the sunshine, their camp finally set up. They had just finished eating lunch and were quite content to relax after what had happened that morning.

"So…should we stick around here for a few days or keep moving after today?"

"Hm…" The brunette began weighing her options. "I think I want to stay here for a day or two…they'll expect me to move quickly, and this might throw them off…"

The blonde nodded and stretched lazily, surprised when there was no sharp flash of pain when she moved her shoulder. She then remembered the numbing herb.

Running footsteps made both look up immediately.

"Garland? Mystel? Crusher? Ming Ming?" Hilary gaped and gasped when she saw Brooklyn passed out in Crusher's arms. (1) "What happened!"

Kira stood immediately.

"Was he injured," she inquired as she dug around for her bag.

"No," Garland replied, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

"She's a friend," Hilary hurriedly put in.

"Really?" Ming Ming stared at the girl suspiciously.

"Did you…see the battle between Kai and Brooklyn," Mystel asked hesitantly.

"Yep…battles as violent as that have been springing up over the world, and my body can't handle the strain. Thus I had to quit beyblading."

"…does that mean you hate Brooklyn?" It was not any of the newcomers this time; it was Hilary who voiced this concern.

"Would I be looking for Kai if I hated him?" Was the answer she got.

"Can I take that as a yes?" The brunette pressed.

"You're able to, yes…" That made Hilary scowl.

"Stop being difficult! You're worse than Kai!"

"…I think I'll take that as a complement…"

"Most people wouldn't," Garland acknowledged.

"I'm not most people," Kira shrugged.

'What's wrong with her? Could it be that she doesn't get along with boys? Oh no…what if she thinks they're evil!' Hilary internally began panicking. "Um…Kira, could I talk to you for a sec?" The blonde nodded and followed Hilary out of the clearing. "Do you hate them or something?" She scowled at Hilary and crossed her arms.

"If someone gets defensive on me, I get defensive right back," she declared, sounding mature and childish at the same time.

"Oh…" Hilary mumbled, relieved.

"And, to be truthful, no, I don't hold a grudge against Brooklyn. Would I have offered to tend to his wounds, if he had any, if I did?"

"Hehe good point," Hilary sweatdropped.

"I'm not trying to make you feel stupid or anything; I'm just pointing out the facts…I have a way of making people hate me when I do that…"

"Nah, I don't hate you. I just…feel stupid…"

"Welcome to my world." Both laughed and headed back into the clearing. "I'll say this now…" She now held the former BEGA team's attention. "When people get defensive on me, I get defensive right back. I have nothing personally against any of you, but I can be a real bitch when people get defensive on me." That over with, she sat down and calmly began reorganizing the herbs and supplies in her bags.

For a few moments, no one spoke.

"Gomen nasai," Ming Ming murmured. "We're just so used to people picking on Brooklyn…all because of that battle…"

"I've seen something ten times worse. Why would I fault your friend for it?"

"Something ten times worse," Ming Ming was aghast.

"In my eyes, yes," the blonde replied and that was all anyone could get out of her. The BEGA group sat down and the debate of whether to lay Brooklyn down on the ground started. It was abruptly ended when the silent Kira threw a cloak at Crusher and left the clearing.

'I really don't like killing things…oh well…' Kira continued on her way to her destination.

-x-x-x-x-

"Does she…like Brooklyn then?" Ming Ming wondered aloud.

"Well, she told us she has nothing personal against him," Hilary replied dryly.

"This is a first…" Garland commented.

"What is," Hilary inquired.

"Us trying to speculate how much someone likes Brooklyn…" Garland answered and they all started laughing a bit. They stopped suddenly as they heard a thumping sound.

"Never seen someone carrying something heavy," an amused voice called to them and they all spun to see Kira hauling a net full of fish into the clearing.

Garland and Crusher immediately stood to help her as Mystel went in search of firewood.

"I'll go find some sticks to roast them on," Hilary volunteered and wandered off as well.

"Make sure you guys don't get lost," Kira shouted after them. "I almost did!"

"Okay," the two shouted back. "We'll be careful!"

Garland looked worried as he, Crusher and Kira began preparing the fish to be eaten.

-x-x-x-x-

"So…we should avoid you at all costs," Tyson tried summing it up. Mariah laughed.

"I wouldn't go _that_ far…but I think I may want to wait to Beybattle anyone until NMS is over…" Mariah started laughing again at the look on Tyson's face.

Kenny sighed and rubbed his temples.

"This is going to be a long, long, long…wait, how long does NMS last?" That set Mariah off again and this time, everyone else joined in.

"Hey, wait, where's Daichi?" Rei wondered aloud; everyone stopped laughing immediately.

-x-x-x-x-

The pilot grinned as he saw the thin stretch of land that was slowly coming into view; he picked up the intercom and pressed the button.

"Mr. Hiwatari, we are nearing a landing area," he informed his silent passenger.

"Then do so," was the sparse reply. The pilot smirked and shook his head as he prepared to let the airport know he was landing.

This was the same airport both Max and Hilary had landed at.

-x-x-x-x-

"What's wrong," Kira broke the silence. Ming Ming looked worriedly at Garland.

"Shouldn't he have woken up by now," the silver haired and eyed teen murmured.

"Depends on what happened," the blonde replied and attacked her fish to help rid herself of her frustration.

-x-x-x-x-

Hilary and Mystel walked in a companionable silence; they had found a bit of firewood and some sticks small enough to be able to roast the fish on.

The brunette was about to start up a conversation when she screamed and started running. Mystel soon followed, but decided not to scream.

-x-x-x-x-

Garland and Crusher leapt to their feet at the sound of Hilary's scream. Without hesitation, they immediately started in the direction, only to have Mystel and Hilary come breezing past them and collapse on the ground in the clearing.

"Are you guys okay?" Kira inquired calmly as she continued to work on her fish.

"F-fine," Hilary panted as she pushed herself into a sitting position.

"Then why were you screaming," Ming Ming wondered aloud.

"S-snake!" Hilary grumbled shakily. "I h-hate snakes!" Everyone but Mystel and Hilary sweatdropped. (2)

-x-x-x-x-

'So they managed to free him…hm…I relish the thought of a chase…' A smirk flitted across the man with the sunglasses face, but, as quickly as it had come, it was gone. 'Well, well…Brooklyn Kingston…it looks like you shall have some company in your lock down…once I get you back, you shall never again see the light of day…'

If he were to take off the sunglasses, someone would have seen the maniacal gleam in his eyes now.

'Freaks like you don't deserve to live…'

A predatory grin spread across the man's face as he thought of how tortured the boy had looked before his friends had come to rescue him. His grin widened, then faded to a frown. He had seen the faint flicker of hope in the boy's eyes. Then the insane grin came back.

'Oh, how fun it will be to break that boy of hope…' (3)

-x-x-x-x-

Vivid blue eyes fluttered open to meet dazzling green. (4)

"M-mom," Max croaked as he sat up.

"Right here," Judy gently helped her son into a sitting position.

"W-what happened," the boy rasped. His mother silently handed him a bottle of water; he drank until his parched throat stopped complaining. "Thanks mom…" Max slid to the edge of the sofa and stood. "I should get back…leaving was too rash…Tyson needs all the-"

"Actually, I think it would be better if you stayed here. I haven't talked to your dad yet, but I think he'll agree with me when I say you aren't to be around the Bladebreakers anymore."

Max's eyes widened.

-x-x-x-x-

"So…" Kira began conversationally. "Did you bring back the sticks?" For a moment, all was silent. Mystel held up the firewood he had managed to keep a hold of while running; Hilary held up three sticks that could be used to roast the fish.

Said blonde stood up and vanished into the foliage. A few moments later, she returned with four more, just enough for everyone to roast their own.

Garland began the process of trying to light a fire, but it was not working. Kira sighed and began fishing around in her mystery bag. Ming Ming anime fell when she pulled out some matches.

"…why didn't you pull those out in the first place," Hilary inquired with a sweatdrop.

"I was getting more sticks, remember," Kira replied as she handed the matches over to the extremely frustrated Garland. Once the fire was lit, they all snagged a stick, a fish and began to roast it. Kira repeated the process once more.

"Hungry, huh," Hilary mused as she laughed a bit.

"Nope." Kira answered. "This one's for him," she pointed at the k.o.'ed carrot top who was leaned against the tree.

"Oops," Ming Ming mumbled. "He's so quiet-"

"He's knocked out," Hilary reminded her.

"-I almost forgot he was there," Ming Ming finished and scowled at Hilary, who had no problems glaring back.

"Oy," Kira muttered as a full-fledged glaring contest ensued.

"Guys, break it up," Garland commanded. Both, albeit reluctantly, stopped.

"Who is she," a soft voice asked. They all turned to see that Brooklyn's green eyes were open and he was now awake. Hilary tried to quell the bubble of apprehension she felt forming in her chest.

'Something tells me this is not going to be good…' Said brunette thought.

-x-x-x-x-

(1)- he was carrying him, okay? This is not yaoi (sorry if anyone's a fan, but I don't write it)

(2)- well, Brooklyn didn't obviously! He's still out!

(3)- I **told** you he'd be back! Oh, and I'm looking for name suggestions…

(4)- I'm not sure what color Judy's eyes are…oh well…they're green now!

That's all for now folks!

I'll update ASAP!

Oh, and definitely no preview again XP sorry, I think I've decided to just abandon the whole thing…at least until I get myself organized again…oh well…

Emma


	13. An Escape and Two Meetings

For me, school is starting soon, so I need to type up as many chapters as I can, while I can…I'm going to be a chapter machine in these last two weeks…

Ahem, anyway…

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade…if I did, there would be a lot more plot, a lot less blading, Dranzer wouldn't have been destroyed and Hilary would blade too…

Chapter Title: An Escape, and Two Meetings

In this chapter, how they got Brooklyn out of the happy hotel will be explained…I meant to do that in the one where they actually rescued him, but I got slightly off track with my new plot ideas.

Oh well…

Enjoy!

WARNING: towards the end, one part is kinda gory. Skip a few sentences if you do not like gore or detail. It's not enough to be rated M, though, so…whatever then.

-x-x-x-x-

Kira eyed him for a moment before she turned her gaze elsewhere. Brooklyn swallowed softly before turning to look warily at his teammates.

"My name's Kira," the blonde broke the awkward silence as she locked her fiery grey orbs with his shy light emerald ones.

"Where-?" He began, but Kira cut him off quickly.

"You're in the woods near where the zombies attacked."

"Y-You saw them too," Ming Ming gaped.

"Saw them? No…" Hilary smiled wryly.

"We _fought_ them," Kira explained.

"Which one of you had the blade," Brooklyn inquired softly, but both Kira and Hilary could detect concealed fear in his tone.

"Me," Hilary replied and busied herself with eating her fish, which was now cooked.

"As previously stated, I am physically unable to blade," Kira scowled and returned to munching on her fish.

-x-x-x-x-

Judy left the room to let the information sink in. Max soon heard her talking on the phone in the next room. There was only one thing running through his mind.

'I'll never see my friends again…' His dazed mind repeated over and over until he wanted to scream. Then it stopped. 'So what if I cried? Everyone cries once in a while! I'm allowed! Just because I got upset doesn't mean I should be kept away from them…' Max's recent rebellious streak seemed to have returned because he picked up his suitcase and quietly tip toed out the door.

'To the airport,' he decided.

Bad decision, Max…very bad…

-x-x-x-x-

Kai barely held in a smirk as he felt the plane descend towards the ground.

'And Hilary,' he reminded himself. He knew she was here.

-x-x-x-x-

"Yeah, where is Daichi," Tyson wondered aloud.

"I haven't seen him in a bit either, come to think of it," Kenny mumbled.

"Why don't we look for him," Mariah suggested.

"Yeah," Tyson shouted and ran to a random section of the dojo to begin his search. Sighing, Kenny went to another part and started looking too. Mariah turned to leave when she saw Rei was trying to get up to follow her.

"Rei, you need to rest," Mariah chided and gently made him lay back down. She left the room to help search for Daichi as well.

'She's just trying to keep me in here so they can kiss her in peace!' Rei thought as he growled softly and ground his teeth together.

-x-x-x-x-

Ming Ming, Crusher, Mystel and Garland exchanged worried glances.

'Why were they being so snippy all of a sudden,' Garland wondered as he watched Brooklyn's calm face fade away to one he had been wearing all too often. "Kira, may I speak with you?" The blonde nodded and followed Garland out of earshot. "Are you actually angry at Brooklyn?"

"No…but I could detect a hint of fear in his voice. That's why Hilary reacted the way she did…" From the way Garland's eyes widened slightly, Kira knew he did not think of that. "I was _trying_ not to scare him further and shut up by using my "excuse"."

This caused Garland to start mentally swearing in every language he knew.

"C'mon," Kira brought him back to the present by kicking a pebble at him. He scowled at her and she stuck her tongue out at him. Smirking, she started walking back to the clearing; he followed, scowling heavily at her.

"Alright, what's up," Ming Ming demanded to know when the two re-entered the clearing. Kira merely shrugged before munching on the last of her fish. Garland gave her the "I'm-not-answering-so-don't-even-think-about-asking-again" look.

-x-x-x-x-

Kai slung his duffle bag over his shoulder and began walking out of the terminal. The next thing he knew, he had been bowled over by someone.

That someone had blonde hair and blue eyes.

That someone just happened to be Max Tate, who looked just as shell-shocked.

-x-x-x-x-

'Hm…' Mariah thought to herself as she silently opened doors and peered into their rooms. So far, the search for Daichi had proved fruitless; she sighed and ran a hand through her hair, finding this room unoccupied as well. Sighing, she closed the door and blew a strand of hair that had escaped her bow out of her face.

She turned around and came face with narrowed, black-irised eyes.

Her own golden ones widened in fear and shock as she registered what was happening.

-x-x-x-x-

"Gomen nasai…" Brooklyn murmured softly.

"Hm?" Kira looked up from drawing designs in the dirt with a stick. She cocked her head to the side in confusion, "nande?"

"Nani?" Hilary had just registered that Brooklyn had spoken. That drew everyone else's attention to the shy, red-headed blader.

"Gomen nasai," he repeated softly; Kira sighed and returned to drawing her patterns in the dirt.

'Urgh…I hate people like him!' She growled mentally. 'Always blaming themselves for anything that goes wrong…God, he's horrible!'

"Kira," Hilary questioned tentatively; she had noted the frown that now marred Kira's annoyed facial expression.

"Aa?"

"Daijabou?

"Hai," Kira's frown deepened until she finally sighed and looked up. Everyone was staring at her. "Nani?"

"…nothing," Garland muttered as they all looked away. The re-annoyed Kira scowled darkly at them all and stood; she threw her twig somewhere off into the darkness beyond the light of the campfire.

They all started at the sound it made; Kira smirked playfully.

"Never been camping, kiddies?" She inquired with a smirk. They all could tell she was kidding…well, almost all.

"Aa," a shamefaced Brooklyn mumbled.

"Good God," Kira mumbled before throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. "If you're gonna talk, then talk. Stop being so meek."

Brooklyn's wide light emerald orbs connected with Kira's slightly irritated fiery grey ones for the second time that night.

"N-nande?"

Kira looked away and down before facing them all levelly.

"You remind me too much of someone I'd rather forget." Was her calm answer as she turned to walk off into the darkness; then she called over her shoulder, "besides…as I recall from your battle with Kai, you were quite the character."

Everyone froze; talking about the battle with Kai was so far off-limits it was long past Pluto. (1)

-x-x-x-x-

'Hm…now, if I was a bunch of brats, where would I try to hide?' The evil looney bin man theorized. The intercom sounding brought him out of his thoughts.

"Mr. Taka," the secretary's oddly meek voice drifted through the intercom. "Mr. and Mrs. Kingston are here and they wish to speak with you…"

The man raised his eyebrows as he regarded the speaker.

'Hm…why not?' "Send them in, then," he informed her boredly after pressing the button.

"Right away, sir," the doors swinging open and two well-dressed people gliding in informed him that his secretary had not been kidding about the right away part.

"Alright, Taka," the man growled. "Where is our son?"

"Yes," the woman added snobbily. "I wish to see him…and inform him of our decision to bring him home…forcibly if need be."

The man in the desk merely looked smug and steepled his fingers as he calmly gazed at the couple. Oh yes, he could see right through them.

Through their phoney smiles and fake concern…he knew all about them. Just to look upon them was making him sick and he knew this meeting would be over soon. Or he would end it…and they would not like how he would end it.

He slipped a hand in his desk and felt around until his hand closed around something cold and hard. Oh yes, they most certainly would not like the end of this meeting…

"I'm sorry to say…your son is no longer under my care," Mr. Taka chose his words carefully; he knew if he spooked them, this would have all been for naught. Now that he knew…now that he knew, things were going to change. Drastically.

"Oh," the woman's eyebrow arched in disbelief; he restrained himself…barely.

"Yes…it seems his friends have…bailed…him out," the calm and composed director of the looney bin stated.

"We want to see our son, and we want to see him _now_," the male demanded angrily, his voice rising dramatically in volume.

The director did not flinch, nor did his expression waver an iota.

"I'm sorry to have to repeat myself…your son is no longer here, nor do I know where he is," the man restated.

"You lie," the woman snarled, her face contorting into a mask of anger. The effect made her very ugly indeed.

"No, madam," he replied sharply. "If there is one thing I do not do, it is lie."

"Then we'll search the premises for our son," the "father" responded.

"No, I do not think you will…"

"We won't?" The woman sneered, contorting her face more. "And who's going to stop us?"

"Me," he replied.

"Oh? And how are _you_ going to stop _us_," the woman scorned.

"I'd like to see you try," the "father" growled.

"Oh, I'm afraid I shall do much more than try," Mr. Taka replied calmly before he pulled what he had been grasping from the desk ever since the conversation began.

Both gasped; shock registered on their faces.

Mr. Taka cocked the gun…and pulled the trigger hard. Twice.

The gunshots shattered the silence as well as flesh, cartilage and bone.

To him, they moved in slow motion; he urged them to move faster, willed them to kill quicker…but they went slowly, merrily about the same way they had started.

He scowled at the slowness of the bullets and frowned when he saw the blood all over the walls, carpet, everything.

'This will take some cleaning up,' he decided as he stuck the gun back inside his desk.

Most questioned why he kept a gun inside an insane asylum.

He questioned why he did not keep it on him at all times. There were too many disgusting people that lived on this planet and it was his life's mission to eradicate them all. He lounged back in his chair and placed his hands behind his head as he stared at the ceiling.

Then a sick smile adorned his face.

'Oh, how much fun I will have now that I have a second chance…pity my work was undone…' He paused for a moment, thinking. 'Then again…was it?'

-x-x-x-x-

Brooklyn had turned his back to the flames and everyone almost instantaneously. None of them had managed to catch a glimpse of his face, and all of them were apprehensive.

It was now the dead of night, and Kira had not yet returned.

Hilary frowned.

"How did you guys get Brooklyn out of there anyway?"

Garland smiled.

"Now that's a question worthy of an answer," Ming Ming grinned as well.

"I think Mystel should tell it…it was his idea," Crusher piped up; Mystel nodded as Ming Ming and Garland murmured their agreement.

"It was simple…" Mystel informed the brunette.

_Flashback_

_All of them gaped at the unconscious Brooklyn before sharply pulling themselves together, although it was extremely hard for all of them to focus._

_The four quickly covered the security camera's lens, slipped into uniforms and set Brooklyn on the rolling hospital bed. They became workers, a complete and total disguise. Mystel doubted that even the shrewish secretary would be able to recognize them now._

_They all surrounded the bed and made to move it out the door. Before they did so, Ming Ming quickly and expertly applied some make-up and a wig to change Brooklyn from a pale carrot top to a tanned boy with straight, flat black hair._

_Exchanging hurried smirks, they all worked together to get the bed out the door and down the hallway. They were about halfway when they encountered resistance._

_"Where are you going," a nurse stopped them._

_They all froze for a moment; time seemed to pass extra slow._

_"Transfer," Crusher finally grunted. The nurse seemed to except it and bustled off. All were surprised and wary by the encounter; they decided it was time to stop lollygagging around and hurry up. _

_Around five minutes later, all four of them plus Brooklyn and the bed, were at the exit. Trying to look and act as natural as possible, all four wheeled him out the door and out of sight of the many security cameras._

_They disappeared around a corner before slipping into the bushes in an area where they had already taken care of the camera. Hastily, they all tore off their disguises, Crusher hurriedly picked Brooklyn up, and they all raced off into the woods at the back of the property._

_They encountered the creepy mist again, and during their trip through it, Ming Ming had removed the wig and make-up; Brooklyn had had a stressful enough day, he did not need to wake up looking like someone else._

_About five minutes after they had left the imposing mist behind, they had come across Hilary and Kira._

_End Flashback_

"Wow…" Hilary mumbled.

-x-x-x-x-

Japanese:  
Gomen nasai: formal way of saying "I'm sorry"  
Nande: why?  
Nani: what?  
Aa: yeah  
Daijabou: are you okay? (roughly along the lines of that, anyway)

Hai: yes

(1)- whenever I say something is "far out" like spacey (as in not paying attention) or something of the like, I compare it to around, even with or past Pluto…basically, the topic was supposed to never have been brought up. Ever.

Sorry Judy's being a b-tch, but I need an over-protective parent somewhere along the line in here.

Okay, to set the record straight: I currently have five OCs running around. They are Kira, Mr. Taka (happy hotel guy), Mr. and Mrs. Kingston, and the evil secretary lady.

The last one will not be around for long, and since I dragged Brooklyn's "parents" in, I might get rid of Mr. Taka…for now. We shall see…we shall see.

Er…never mind…Mr. Taka shall stay.

Kae's note: There is a reason I wasn't abandoned. It is a very simple one. She has a tendency to make her bad guys reform and we can't have that in this story…no, we need really evil guys…:sweatdrop: and girls…OO;; okay, not girls!

Arin's note: I'm not even going to get to do anything until Kai and Hilary are reunited…if he can even manage that, the cold hearted bastard!...um, scratch that…I forgot about Mariah and Rei…:sweatdrop:

OO;;

Ahem, anyway…

Thanks for stopping by to read the story!

See you next time I update!  
Emma


	14. Bloody Thorn

Chapter 14:

Well…the last chapter was certainly…

…yeah…

It did not reflect my mood, and I have no idea where it came from…Oh well…

At least all of you now know why he is so dangerous.

Poor Brooklyn…

Then again, not.

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade…if I did, there would be a lot more plot, a lot less blading, Dranzer wouldn't have been destroyed and Hilary would blade too…

Hope you like this one! (and it's less bloody/gory)

Note: 0x0x0x0 means that I'm not changing scenes, but changing the "focus"…-x-x-x-x- means I changed scenes (I made it shorter and centered it, for those who were wondering...)

I am now apologizing in advance, seeing as I apparently am stuck with only semi-to completely morbid ideas. You've been warned people.

-x-x-x-x-

Kira shuddered as she trudged back towards the clearing. Something had just happened…something bad.

Frowning, she re-entered the clearing to come face-to-face with Brooklyn.

Everyone else started when he suddenly sat up.

She raised an eyebrow, and noted his gaze was completely focused on her gauze-wrapped shoulder.

0x0x0x0

Brooklyn gaped when his eyes found her shoulder and he found he had lost his voice. When he mastered himself, he found it quivered.

"W-what happened to your shoulder," he inquired shakily, her apparent wound seeming to have driven her last comment from his mind. In fact, it was the exact opposite.

She shrugged, making him wince.

"I got in a fight with a zombie about personal space…I won, with a lot of help, but didn't get away completely unscathed," she shrugged again, then realized she was making them all wince. Kira sighed. "Look, I put a paste with numbing herbs on in it on my wound _and_ worked them onto the bandages…if I can still feel any pain from it, I have a problem."

Hilary started.

"Oh yeah…" She murmured with a sweatdrop. "I have some on my wound," Hilary held out her bandaged hand for their inspection.

Brooklyn's eyes seemed more than mournful as he glanced from injury to injury.

His discomfort was obvious, so Kira strolled over and sat down next to Hilary so he would have less of a distance to look.

"Relax," she commanded after having her nerves grated on for about five minutes; said carrot top blinked at her.

Ming Ming stared.

Garland stared.

Crusher stared.

Mystel stared.

Hilary stared.

Brooklyn had reluctantly relaxed when commanded by Kira.

"What," she snapped, annoyed by all the scrutiny between herself and Brooklyn.

"Nothing," a dazed Hilary mumbled.

"Whatever…" Kira muttered in reply before hopping to her feet and scaling the tree near Brooklyn. "I dunno about you guys, but I'm catching some shut eye," she explained as she curled up quite comfortably on the branch.

Everyone but Brooklyn decided to take that cue as a command and lay down. He merely pulled his knees to his chest and stared at the dancing shadows created by the flickering of light from the fire.

Sighing, Kira hooked her knees around the tree branch before sliding her upper body off the branch. The tips of her long hair were inches from Brooklyn's shoulder.

"Boo," she informed him as he looked up in surprise. The blonde grinned when he looked down and away to hide a slight smile. "Just chill. I get along with people better when they just are themselves." That brought Brooklyn sharply back down to earth and he tightened his grip on his knees. He heard a soft sigh above him and suddenly, was gently pushed back onto his hands.

Oddly enough, he felt a lot more comfortable in this sprawling position.

"See?" An amused voice commented from above. He looked up into the smiling face of Kira.

Instead of replying, he looked away.

'Why does she keep making me want to smile?' The red-haired blader frowned slightly. 'And why is she being so nice? I destroyed her career in blading…'

The others merely lay there and watched the chemistry between the two.

-x-x-x-x-

Mariah's throat contracted tightly as she backed up against the wall, feeling the hateful black eyes drilling into her. Her shaking hand groped around for the door knob, but she was suddenly picked up by the neck and slammed against the door.

Shaking and terrified, Mariah's hand continued to grope around for the door knob as the edges of her vision began to blacken and blur. Her world entirely dark, she found her hand grasping something cold.

'Yes,' her seemingly water-logged mind cheered and she managed to keep herself awake just long enough to lash out at her attacker and twist the door handle.

She did not even feel the pain when her head collided painfully with the hard wood floor that was in the room she had entered in so precariously of a fashion. Nor did she see a pair of vengeful black eyes return to a soft golden color and survey the scene with horror in their depths.

-x-x-x-x-

Both boys stared at one another; then they heard a commotion.

Kai's eyes narrowed as he mentally calculated a few possible scenarios. Most involved that mob of people looking for Max.

'No time to hesitate,' the normally stoic teen commanded himself as he grabbed Max's arm. "We can continue our fight later..." Was all he told the blonde teen as he ran towards the woods at the edge of the runway.

Max either agreed with his logic, or did not care to be caught by the mob. Either way, Kai was grateful as he and the blonde teen slipped into the foliage and vanished.

Deciding they were a good enough distance away, the slate and navy blue haired teen came to a sudden halt; the blonde barely managed to stop himself from crashing into the boy, let alone bowling him over.

"Spill," the fiery grey eyed Russian commanded.

A pair of defiant blue eyes locked with his.

What could only be labeled as a glaring contest began.

Kai mentally sighed. Whatever truce he had formed with his former teammate had apparently expired now that they were no longer in the airport.

-x-x-x-x-

'Shit!' Kira froze and her eyed widened. During the brief moment her body went rigid, her knees had slipped off of the branch; said blonde was currently in a succinct moment of zero gravity and was dreading her contact with the ever-so-solid ground.

A pair of strong arms caught her and she winced as the momentum of her fall jarred them both. Opening one eye cautiously, then the other, she looked up into concerned green eyes.

"You okay," Hillary inquired from out of her range of vision.

"Yeah..." When the grey eyed blonde noted that a pair of ruby colored orbs widened with realization, she made a face at her. "Before I explain, two things: one, thanks for catching me, and two, can you please put me down now?"

His face a shade of red that would have made a tomato proud, the carrot topped boy hurriedly but gently set her on the ground.

"Arigato," she chirped at him before turning to face Hilary.

""Sixth sense"," Hilary used the little air quote things.

"Yep..."

"And there's trouble," the brunette added.

"Yep."

"And we'd do good to-"

"You'd do good to shut up and not make any sudden moves, girl," a harsh voice snarled from the shadows.

'Chikuso,' Kira growled mentally as she noticed, for the first time, firelight bouncing off the glinting barrel of a hand gun.

"That's it, kiddies...don't move..." The voice instructed them as its owner stepped out of the foliage.

When the man's face was revealed, Kira's eyes widened in shock and fear.

"Ah, hello my dear...back from Hell so soon?" A wicked gleam was in the villain's eyes as he gazed upon the girl he had killed six years ago.

-x-x-x-x-

'Huh...? What time is it,' a familiar redhead wondered as he sat up and stretched his arms over his head. The covers slid off him as he yawned and hopped energetically out of bed. 'Whathafuck?!' His mind screamed as he saw Mariah on the floor, out cold, and Rei's long hair disappearing around a corner.

He did the first thing he could think of.

"TYSOOOOOOON!!!!!" Daichi yelled at the top of his lungs.

Two pairs of running feet answered his call.

"W-what," Kenny gaped at the cataleptic pink-haired neko-jin. Tyson stood frozen, his shock even more severe than Kenny's. Panic beginning to set in, Kenny hurriedly dialed 911 and the wailing of ambulance sirens snapped the other two out of their shock-imposed stupor.

Daichi was snapped back in as he watched the paramedics load Mariah's lifeless form quickly and efficiently onto a stretcher before rushing her to the ambulance. Long after the wailing of the sirens faded, he stood there, refrozen with shock...but a new emotion began to surface under that one.

Disbelief.

-x-x-x-x-

Mariam sighed as she began her daily training hike. True, she had started it a bit later than usual, and yes, it was dark out, but that was no reason for her to slack off. Let Ozuma be after Dunga and Josef for doing that. She preferred it when their leader was not after her hide, thanks.

Sighing lightly, she kicked a small stone in the path she normally took. It was just the right length, and it wandered past a vast expanse of woodland, something that relaxed her when she gazed upon its tranquility. These walks helped calm her down as well as serve as her training. She was now able to taunt Dunga for longer, and ignore his own returning barbs, which, of course, aggravated him more than her taunts themselves.

A slightly cynical smirk adorning her face, she kept walking.

Then she saw a column of smoke rising from the woods. About to slide down the steep incline and investigate, she hesitated. A second after she questioned her course of action, she berated herself soundly. Still mentally rebuking herself, she slid down, careful not to kick up any stray rocks or dirt.

Caution not yet thrown to the winds, she silently and stealthily approached the clearing. Her bright green eyes widened immeasurably as she saw a few of the new world-class bladers, that girl who was the "coach" for the Bladebreakers, and an unfamiliar girl held up at gunpoint by an unfamiliar adult.

Panic had not set in, and, using the time left that she had her wits about her, the girl crept back and retraced her steps to avoid drawing attention to herself or her actions.

'I've got to help them...it's the least I can do, especially after what Max did for me...although that one girl does look like someone I've met before...but who?' As her distracted mind debated this, she snuck along her usual route, searching for someone or something that would be able to help her.

She quickly noted a flash of orange near the other edge of the trail.

'Here goes nothing,' she muttered to herself, and abandoning all caution, sprinted towards the other incline.

-x-x-x-x-

Max and Kai both froze and threw themselves to the ground when they heard several gunshots piercing the otherwise silent and calm night air.

Wide fiery grey and bright blue exchanged frightened or startled glances with their neighbors. What was only just a few minutes seemed to pass like hours. When no more shots were fired both exchanged still shocked glances. Shaking, both boys began to push themselves off the ground, when some bushes nearby began to rustle with movement.

It sounded like a human was moving in there.

-x-x-x-x-

Everyone closed their eyes as the man cocked the gun and tightened his hand on the trigger.

Then he unloaded several rounds.

Tears began to leak out from under Ming Ming's eyelids. She was terrified and she did not know who was hurt, or even if that person was still among the living.

The rest of the group was frozen, all waiting for a sudden wave of pain to overcome them, or to fall to darkness's silent, and in this case deadly, embrace.

A deranged laugh shattered the terrified silence that had descended upon the teens and the man with the gun.

"Who's next," he hissed as he lovingly rubbed the barrel of the gun. All of them shuddered and prayed they would all escape this alive...or the rest of them would. No one knew if those earlier rounds had felled a companion.

But judging by the man's words, they had.

-x-x-x-x-

Mariam used all her willpower to keep from screaming as she felt a bullet enter her body and blood ooze from the wound. Shaking, and terrified, the bluette crawled forward. Fear and adrenalin her fuel, she fought her way towards the incline, and what she hoped would be help.

The edges of her vision blurring, the girl paused to turn and glance at the path behind her and her eyes widened as she swore vehemently under her breath. A huge trail of blood followed her. Dismayed, for she realized how little ground she had covered; she turned her head forward and swayed as stripes of black fire crossed her vision.

'...sorry...Max...' She thought as she swayed a bit more. 'I never...got to say...good bye...' The girl, for the first time in her life, closed her eyes and gave up.

For the first time in her life, she allowed herself to be tightly enveloped in darkness's deep and deathly embrace.

'Bye Josef...' Her last weak thoughts were as she completely succumbed to the tightening grasp of the darkness swirling inside her mind's eye.

Something tore her skin as she rolled into the dark forest below.

A drop of blood remained on the thorn.

-x-x-x-x-

Kai and Max both froze as the movement stopped abruptly. They exchanged glances, their truce apparently resumed...for the time being.

"What do you think it is," Max whispered.

"...I don't know..." The former captain replied. He figured that if he was honest with Max, the blonde might be a bit more willing to resolve their present conflict. Or so he hoped, anyway...

-x-x-x-x-

Uh…yeah.

This one was kinda off track, but…I liked it :crosses that out: NOT!!!…although I can't help but feel sorry for Mariah…I keep torturing her and all the other girls…I think it's about time I pick on the guys! What do you guys think? …okay, all the guys but Brooklyn…poor guy's been picked on enough by me for one story!

Sorry again for the blood and crap...I'm freakin' out of ideas!! (I shall make more soon, I hope!!!)

Kae's note: I'm _very_ pleased with the new bad guy, Mr. Taka…I-

Yeah, Arin gets a longer note. Kae's shutting up now. :ties Kae up and throws her in a closet:

Arin's note: No space for fluff…:sigh: nothing would quite fit currently…oh well…there's always next chapter.

Anyone wanna take a stab at who our lovely friend in the woods is? Lemme know!

Yeah, that's it for now folks!  
Emma


	15. In Which A Bad Person Goes To Hell

Welcome to Chapter 15!!!

I hope all of you enjoy!!!

Sorry its been taking so long to update...I'm trying to write consecutively longer chapters...and I've done a fairly good job so far...(if I do say so myself)

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade…if I did, there would be a lot more plot, a lot less blading, Dranzer wouldn't have been destroyed and Hilary would blade too…

-x-x-x-x- (scene change)  
x0x0x0x (P.O.V. or something akin to P.O.V. change)

Today, we shall start off wiiiiith..

.Max, Kai and our "friend" in the bushes!!!!!

-x-x-x-x-

Without another word to Kai, who thought that he should be in charge of the situation, Max crept stealthily towards the bushes. Kai pulled out his beyblade and readied it to launch.

'If someone is there, this should make short work of them,' he rationalized as he took his famed launching stance. Max glanced back at him, their gazes met, then both nodded in agreement, seeming to read one another's mind.

Taking a deep breath, Max pulled back a bunch of branches in one swift movement before crying out. Kai, unable to see, and thinking Max was in danger, released his blade. Spinning, Max blocker whatever or whomever was in the bushes and earned himself a fairly deep slash on the arm.

"Nani?!" Kai snapped as he recalled Dranzer to his hand. Quickly and efficiently, he tore off a scrap of his scarf and bandaged the cut. The blonde boy winced when he tied it firmly, but gently. Annoyed at his teammates' lack of communication, and that he got wounded, Kai shoved him aside (1) and looked into the bushes that had concealed a threat.

His own fiery grey eyes widened and he had to grip a nearby tree to keep himself from passing out.

x0x0x0x

(2) The suspense was killing me. I had to find out who or what was in the bushes, and I had to find out now. As far as I knew, it was whoever had been shot!

I knew if I had told Kai what I was going to do, he'd do everything to stop me, even if it meant physically restraining me. Apprehensive, I approached the bushes. Behind me, I half-heard, half-sensed Kai getting into his blade launching stance. Even though I was still pretty annoyed at him, it was good to know he had my back covered...

Fear about to override my worry for whoever might be in there, I plunged on before I completely lost my nerve, and let Kai do whatever he pleased.

Taking great care to try to hide the tremors in my hand, I gathered some branches and pulled them out of the way.

My eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw what had been in the bushes. Initially, my reaction was to scream until my lungs ran out of air, but luckily, my thought process caught up with my impulse before I could act on it.

For all we knew, it could happen to us in the next few seconds...

Despite my thought process preventing me from screaming, I did still cry out. Of course, Kai, great emotional guy that he is, mistook that for a cry of alarm and launched his blade. I barely even had time to move to block it, and almost cried out again when Dranzer made a deep gash in my arm.

Gritting my teeth, I still hissed in pain. To my utter amazement, Kai tore off a piece of his scarf and bandaged my arm.

Why had he done that?

To me, it raised more questions than answers, and the fact that I had almost screamed when I saw what was in the bushes wasn't helping matters. Mastering myself the best way I knew how, I turned to Kai, an expression of forlorn confusion on my face.

"Kai, what do we do?!" I cried out, far closer to panicking than I had thought I was. My eyes searched his, and what I uncovered in his depths gave me no comfort. He was at as much a loss as I was...

-x-x-x-x-

"Well, well, well..." The man spoke as he regarded the group of teens.

Kira, who was emotionally in pieces, sat there with her eyes closed, shivering in fear. It was rare for her to loose her composure to the point where she was a quivering mass of fear, but after what had happened to her at the hands of this man, it was more than understandable.

"Ready to return to the pits of Hell," the man sneered, cocking the gun at Kira.

-x-x-x-x-

(3) 'Wake up,' a small and faint voice spoke in my head.

Shivering harder, I bit my lip and tried to remain still.

"Well, bitch?!" I could feel the hatred radiating off him in waves. Why wouldn't he hate me? I destroyed his life's work...but that doesn't justify getting Hilary and the others involved. "Of course, bitch, this time you'll have company..."

I could almost see the sneer on his face...I knew if I opened my eyes, there it would be, that sick expression of glee at frightening other human beings.

'Wake up!' The voice called more urgently. I fought harder to block it out.

"What, too afraid? The bitch afraid to die again?"

'Wake up!'

'No!' I shouted back at it mentally. It was too distracting. I couldn't focus...I couldn't do anything...

I opened my eyes a sliver and saw him leveling the gun at me from across the clearing. This is it...

'Wake up. Wake up! Wake up. Wake up! Wake up. Wake up! Wake up. Wake up! WAKE UP. WAKE UP!' The familiar voice screamed inside my head.

Almost blacking out from the pain the decibel of the voice had caused, I unsteadily lurched to my feet. A lifetime of hatred and anger came pouring from my heart as adrenaline rushed through my veins, chasing away the tremors and weakness, leaving a pleasant buzzing warmth in their place.

I narrowed my now-icy fiery grey eyes...and leapt right at the barrel of the gun.

I ignored the screams produced when it went off, and ploughed right into the man who had made what little life I had had a living hell.

"Hilary! NOW!" I shrieked as loud as I could. I heard a blade being jammed onto the launcher and a rip cord slicing through the air as it was yanked from the launcher.

"BLACK DRANZER!!!!" Hilary called, her voice shaky, but determined.

'Yessss,' I cheered mentally as I rolled away from him and ended up on my hands and knees. Everyone, save me, stared at the spot where the man had been laying. I shuddered. I was glad he was gone, but I didn't quite have a morbid enough curiosity as to look where he had last lain. 'I'm free...finally free...' I thought with a lazy smile, then immediately stopped.

I've got enough problems without people questioning my sanity...and smiling right after someone was killed, even if your prayers had been asking for him to die, was not appropriate...

I heard running footsteps, and looked up, despite my shaky limbs. I froze and vanished once I spotted the only person who could be my undoing.

I really had wanted to say good-bye to Hilary, Brooklyn and the others...

-x-x-x-x-

(4) I was still frozen with indecision when Kai started tearing his scarf to shreds.

"What are you doing," I hissed as he knelt down.

"What does it look like," he returned just as sharply. I winced when Mariam softly cried out in pain. (5) "Get down here and help!"

Gulping softly, I knelt down and started trying to tie bandages around the worst of her cuts. My eyes widened further when I saw the bullet wound in her right shoulder, and I found I was seeing my world through blurring vision.

A sharp tap to my shoulder prevented me from fainting. Not taking his eyes off what he was doing, Kai motioned for me to move away if I was going to pass out. Annoyed now, I grabbed another piece of scarf and began deftly wrapping a fairly deep scrape on her arm.

Kai gave me an eye-smirk and continued working. More annoyed at myself than him now, I scowled at him before continuing to bandage her.

I had just finished tying the final knot when another gunshot rang out.

"Hilary! NOW!" Was echoing through the forest. Kai and I exchange wide-eyed glances before he picked Mariam up and both of us raced towards the shout. The next shout shook both of us.

"BLACK DRANZER!!!!" Hilary's voice shouted. I almost froze, but reminded myself that there had been another gunshot, and someone else was probably hurt. How had Hilary gotten a hold of Black Dranzer?! I quickly shoved that question to the back of my mind, to be answered much later.

We skidded into the clearing to see BEGA and Hilary staring numbly at a huge scorch mark...one in the shape of a human body. A gun burnt almost beyond recognition lay, smoking, and still slightly red from intensive heat, on the edge of the outline. I thought I saw a girl who looked slightly familiar but when I glanced back to where she had been, she was gone.

I decided my mind was playing tricks on me.

"Hil!" I shouted and ran over to her, almost tackling her in an overenthusiastic hug. That shook her out of her stupor.

x0x0x0x

Hilary stared at the over-exuberant boy for a moment before giving him a tight hug back. That broke the stupor all the others had felt and they all shuddered before turning to identify the new comers and regroup.

"Max...?" Mystel questioned.

"Hiya Mystel," he chirped.

"What happened," Kai growled, looking around the clearing. Besides the smoldering gun and the flash-fry mark indicating someone had been just that, nothing was amiss. A silver and blue blade, slightly different from Kai's own, leapt into Hilary's outstretched hand. (6)

"...where's Kira?" Brooklyn's eyes widened as he quickly glanced around the clearing. Hilary squirmed out of Max's hold, horror on her face.

"She was shot! When she dived at that guy...where could she have gone?!" Soon Mystel, Ming Ming, Crusher, and Garland began scouring the surrounding bushes for her.

"Who's Kira," Max wondered aloud.

"The person who's saved my life about twice now," Hilary replied, distracted, as she continued to comb the nearby foliage.

"Twice?" Kai's tone had evident surprise in it. Apparently Hilary wasn't distracted enough to forget she was mad at him; she glared and narrowed her eyes before answering.

"Yeah...although I did save her once, too..."

"Zombies?" Brooklyn paused to inquire; Hilary nodded before both resumed their search.

After another hour, they all ceased and plopped down in the center of the clearing.

"I just don't get it!" Hilary grumbled as she crossed her arms huffily. "She was shot! There's no way she could get that far OR go anywhere without leaving a trail of blood!"

"There's no logical explanation for this one," Garland agreed.

"It's not like she can just disappear," Ming Ming added.

"...what did she look like," Max finally put his two cents in.

"Blonde hair with blue highlights and grey eyes," Hilary supplied immediately.

"Then apparently she can vanish into thin air...'cuz one minute I saw her, and the next she was gone," he replied.

"I'm going to the town," Kai interrupted. "Mariam needs treatment if she wants to keep that arm." Said cold Russian teen stood; he covered his surprise when all the others rose with him.

"We're coming too," Hilary informed him icily and led the way. Smothering smiles, the other teens, minus Kai, followed. Scowling, Kai picked up the rear.

-x-x-x-x-

Daichi kicked his feet as he sat on the too-big hospital chair, bored out of his mind. Well, he was more than just bored. He was worried, uncharacteristically so.

'I can't believe...why...I don't get it...' A confused jumble of thoughts and half formed ideas chased each other around inside his brain.

He could hardly believe what had happened, but after he had been questioned by the police, it all seemed so much more than just a dream. Now he knew for sure it wasn't...he had been hoping it was, even though the pinch test had failed. (7)

So here he sat, in a pure white hallway by the emergency room. Tyson and Kenny sat beside him, both also uncharacteristically silent. Both were still in shock, the paramedics theorized. After all, they had every reason to be. It isn't every day that one of your best friends tries to strangle someone inside your own home.

Daichi snuck a glance at his blue haired friend, knowing that this was hitting him a lot harder than it appeared. Not only were Max, Kai, and Hil gone, but now Rei was too. Never mind the fact that Rei was the one who had done this. Thinking of what he had done made Daichi shudder.

'Why would Rei do that?' Daichi questioned for what must have been the thousandth time that minute.

"Daichi..." A voice called him out of his thoughts. He turned to see that Kenny was the one who had addressed him. His green eyes widened when Kenny explained why Rei had done what he did.

"You mean...he was jealous?!" He half shouted. Kenny dove at him and covered his mouth.

"Shhh!" He cautioned Daichi with a finger to his lips.

"Oops..." The red head sweatdropped and rubbed the back of his head in a sheepish and apologetic manner. "I did say that kinda loud..."

"...everyone's gone..." Tyson murmured softly, finally moving for the first time since they had sat down in the chairs hours before.

"Nuh-UH!" Daichi got right up in Tyson's face. "I'm still here and so is Kenny! We're not goin' anywhere, so snap out of it!"

Tyson's eyes widened as he blinked and stared at his beyblading partner. A weak smile danced across his face.

"You're right..." Tyson shook his head.

"'Course I am," Daichi replied huffily as he hopped back up on his seat.

"Friends of Mariah Wong?" (8) A nurse called. All three hopped to their feet and hurriedly chased after the nurse.

"Hey Daichi..." Tyson whispered.

"Yeah," Daichi muttered back.

"Thanks," Tyson mumbled.

"Anytime," Daichi told him, giving him a quick thumbs up.

-x-x-x-x-

(9) I sighed softly again as I watched them from my position in the bushes. I knew this was all for the best, but that did not prevent disappointment from welling up. I really had been hoping they would find me...

I then brightened as an idea came to me.

Maybe, just maybe, this could work for me...

A grin crept onto my face as I silently followed them through the dark forest back towards human habitation.

I frowned as the fog returned, then shrugged. It wasn't hurting me, and it was helping them, so I let it go. I would have plenty of time later to be bothered with the unnatural anomaly that was repeatedly occurring in my area of habitation.

I love big words...don't you?

-x-x-x-x-

(1)- he didn't go "FUMOFO", shove him and knock him on the ground or anything...he just kinda gave him a push you'd give a friend, so he'd be out of the way...

Oh, and he bandaged Max quickly because...well...we'll find out soon enough, won't we:snickers evilly:

(2)- sorry, but I felt the need to do that scene from Max's P.O.V...it just fits, ya know?

(3)- this is Kira's P.O.V...I felt it'd make more sense from hers than anyone else's.  
That and I don't fancy anyone going "YOU HAVE A MOFOING MARY SUE!!! BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!!!" Urgh...go shove it if that's all you've to say.

(4)- still Maxie's P.O.V.!

(5)- our "evil" "friend" in the bushes was actually, Mariam, yeah...

(6)- I forget if I gave Hilary's blade a color...if I did, disregard that part ;;;

(7)- you know, people pinching themselves to find out if it hurts? Hurts-not a dream, doesn't hurt-dream. That.

(8)- chibi beyblade character plushies if anyone can tell me Mariah's last name!

(9)- Kira's P.O.V...again.

Another note: I'm wrapping up this story in the Epilogue...(a.k.a. chapter 16)

Then, with a few adjustments (and searching) I shall begin the sequel!!! Truth be told, I have three planned, but I need to finish this one, and flesh out the second before I can even finish my "plans" for the third.

Kae's note :muahahahaha: I am evil! I am all-powerful! I am-

BEING RE-LOCKED IN A CLOSET:ties her up and chucks her in...starts snickering when she hears muffled profanities:

Arin's note: OO''' well now...HEEEEY! YOU FORGOT MARIAH AND REI!!!! I WANT FLUFF!!! FLUFF I SAY, DAMN YOU!!!

OO;;; Nuh-uh:chucks her in the closet with Kae:

Immi's note :sigh: I've done nothing of consequence so far...I guess I'll help with the sequel...:ambles off:

Okay then...I'm outta muses here...oO

Hope you all liked one of the twists surrounding my OC...(to anyone who saw it coming, pat yourself on the back! Oh, and take this :throws collection of chibi blader plushies at you: )

OTHER NOTE: Chapter 16 miiiight take a while...it's going to be long...one of those monster chapters. :cackle:

BYES!  
Emma


	16. Epilogue Or Not

Welcome to Chapter 16, the epilogue!

(This little recap is more for me, but I recommend all of you readers reading it too...better than going and re-reading the whole fic!)

First, allow me to review the story so far:

Kai was being an ass and ruined the birth day present Hilary made him. She got pissed off, and left in the middle of the night. Kai and Max left the next morning, Mariah came the morning after that. Then a bunch of stuff, ranging from too-smart-for-their-own-good pilots to busting people out of the looney bin to a riot/mob chasing two people to attacking undead happened.

Two people (Mariah and Mariam) are in/need to go to the hospital. Mariam got shot by Mr. Taka and Mariah...well...I think we all know what went on, even though I didn't spell it out. Rei has vanished, but Tyson, Daichi, Kenny and Dizzi are in the hospital with Mariah.

Everyone else is in the woods/on their way to the city to get Mariam to a hospital.

'Kay? 'Kay.

We shall be starting off with the crew in the woods (minus Kira).

-x-x-x-x-

"Hey, I see lights!" Hilary shouted as they all raced from the woods. As one, all ran towards the street.

"Wait!" Garland called; all of them stopped dead. "We don't know if word of Brooklyn's disappearance has spread or not..." Brooklyn looked down as the others exchanged glances. Hilary frowned thoughtfully.

"Okay, Max, Kai," her tone darkened as she said his name, "both of you take Mariam to the hospital. While you're there Max, get that arm looked at...the rest of us can stay here with Brooklyn and wait it out."

Brooklyn's green eyes widened.

"N-nani," he murmured softly; Hilary gave him a smile.

"Any objections?" Garland inquired, ignoring Brooklyn's shock. When no one did, he nodded to Kai and Max, who immediately rushed off with Mariam.

"So...what do we do now?" Ming Ming inquired after several moments of silence. Hilary sat down on the ground in a comfortable position.

"We wait," she stated before lying on her back to look up at the nights' sky. 'Please let Mariam be okay...' She prayed right as another shooting star skidded across the sky.

Sighing softly, Ming Ming joined Hilary on the ground. One by one, the others joined them, until all the teens were lying down, looking up at the sky.

-x-x-x-x-

Kira sighed softly and shifted restlessly, wishing she could look up at the sky and relax as the others were...but she could not.

As long as they were near the woods, she could not. Something was coming this way from the depths of the forest, where the battle had recently taken place.

The malevolent feelings radiating off of whatever it was were almost tangible and it was still quite far away. Shivering, she hoped they would be long gone, but knew in her heart they would still be here upon its arrival.

'Looks like we're going to find out if ghosts are capable of being killed...' She thought with grim good humor as the presence strengthened. 'Let's hope it can't use the fog unless it figures out how to...' A few moments of puzzling helped her deduce that it had taken her about three weeks to learn how to use it, and another three to use it _properly_. 'Then again, I wasn't trying to kill someone...'

Her gaze traveled down to where the six teens lay relaxing in the grass.

'For their sake, I hope it takes it longer...'

-x-x-x-x-

Tyson, Daichi, and Kenny followed the nurse hurriedly to Mariah's room. The nurse stopped and turned to face them.

"Not too long now, okay?" She told them politely.

"Okay," all three chorused and slipped in past her. To their surprise, Mariah was awake, and sitting up.

"Where's Rei," were the first words out of her mouth.

"We haven't seen him..." Kenny replied slowly. Her eyes widened.

"What?!" She whisper-shouted. (1)

"We haven't seen him," Kenny repeated cautiously. Mariah tried to hop out of the hospital bed. Tyson and Kenny stopped her and made her sit down.

"What's up," Daichi wondered in shock.

"Let me go!" She growled. "Rei's gonna commit suicide otherwise!" All three froze as Mariah quickly clambered out of bed and pulled her clothes on hastily.

They followed her numbly as both slipped out of the hospital and raced towards the pier.

"Why the pier?" Tyson grumbled as he ran along side Mariah, Kenny and Daichi.

"Because Rei can't swim," Mariah retorted and sped up. Kenny, Daichi, and Tyson exchanged wide-eyed glances before speeding up as well.

-x-x-x-x-

A golden eyed neko-jin eyed the stormy water below him, self-hate filling his every pore. He took a step closer towards the end of the pier, ignoring the fact that the ground under his feet was slick with salt water.

/Don't do it!/ Two voices shouted simultaneously. He spun, shocked, to see Galax and Driger both standing behind him. A little farther back he saw Dragoon and Hoppy racing towards him.

Stunned, he started backing up, one step, two steps.

"REI!" Mariah shouted, panic and fear lacing her tone as she slid around a corner. His eyes widened further as he took a third step back.

"REI!!!" Kenny, Daichi and Tyson called as they followed behind Mariah.

'W-what,' his dazed mind screamed mentally. 'They-they should hate me!' Shaken, he took a fourth step back, into open air. Mariah raced as fast as she could towards the water; Kenny and Tyson were frozen in shock. Galax, Driger, Dragoon, Strata-Dragoon and Hoppy watched apprehensively, unable to assist, even if it spelled death for the bladers.

Without pausing to think, Mariah dived into the water after her best friend and long time crush, conveniently forgetting she was not exactly an Olympic swimmer. As soon as she entered the choppy salt water, she almost screamed from the shock of the ice cold water.

Biting her lip, Mariah ignored the numbing cold as best as she could, and swam down towards the bottom. Just as she was about to pass out from lack of oxygen, she caught sight of something red and white near the edge of the rock outcropping.

'Rei!" Her mind screamed. Adrenaline coursing through her veins and clearing her mind, she forced her numbed muscles to move. Latching onto Rei, she hauled him as well as herself to the surface. She broke it to take a huge gasp of air, but the waves slammed her and Rei up against the rocks.

Biting back a scream of pain, she fought to find a hold on the rocks before the waves pounded her unconscious. The next thing she knew, she was wrenched from the water to look up into familiar golden eyes.

"Lee!" She gasped as her knees buckled. Her brother grinned before catching her. "Wait! What about Rei?!" Lee spun her around so she could see that Gary was supporting Rei while Kevin, Kenny, Daichi and Tyson worriedly glanced back and forth between her and Rei. "I'm okay..."

"To the dojo," Kenny told them all. Gulping, everyone marched. It seemed Kenny had had enough excitement for one day.

Once back, Mariah had been changed by Lee, and Rei by Gary, before both were plopped on the couch and covered with thick, heavy blankets. Mariah blinked when all of them, even Tyson, Daichi and Kenny, left the room.

Worriedly, she turned to face Rei. After giving him a once over, she sighed in relief.

'If he wakes up, he'll be okay...' She couldn't resist a soft sigh of relief as she relaxed and prepared to drift off to sleep.

Then she saw the blood on the blanket.

-x-x-x-x-

Max and Kai rushed into the emergency room, carrying Mariam between them.

There was instant pandemonium.

Somehow, through the mess of doctors, nurses, surgeons, detectives, aides, and general mass of milling people, Max was seen to and was soon seated by Mariam's bedside, awaiting her return to the land of the living.

He bit his lip nervously.

'_If_ she lives,' he reminded himself sternly. He didn't want to get his hopes up.

-x-x-x-x-

Kira carefully fidgeted on her post, restless. As she shifted, she felt something cold and hard press against her ankle. Praying this was what she _thought_ it was, she reached into her sock and pulled out...

A nail filer. One with a black, plastic handle, and a pointed, metal tip, but a nail filer nonetheless.

She almost fell off the branch.

'So much for _that_ idea,' she thought sullenly.

Suddenly, she was four again.

_"Anything, in the proper hands, can become a weapon, young one," her sensei told her. Blinking, the child confusedly clutched a blunt, unsharpened pencil in one hand._

_"Even this?" She held up her pencil for her sensei to see._

_"Used appropriately, yes, even that," her sensei smiled, seeing his apprentice was staring at him with a flat look that clearly revealed her thoughts. "Come, and I will show you."_

The abrupt flashback ended as soon as it had started, and made her eyes widen as another came on full force.

_"Young one, take this," her sensei held something out to her in one of his bloody hands._

_"B-but...sensei..." Her large purple-grey eyes looked at him, the burning dojo in the background and his state mournfully._

_"Take this, young one, and go...flee, before you are slain as well..." Her sensei's eyes were beginning to slide closed as his life's blood pooled on the floor at their feet._

_"S-sensei," her eyes bright with unshed tears, she gently took the trinket from her dead sensei's fingers and turned to flee._

Eyes widening further in terror, she stopped the memory, and clamped and hand over her own mouth to muffle the sobs that currently wracked her form.

'Why? Why do I have to remember? Why now?' Slowly, the tears ceased. Cold, furious anger replaced them.

Now that her memories were completely restored, she knew what had happened on that terrible day. And she knew perfectly well who had caused it. Clenching the nail filer tightly, she slipped delicately onto the ground and, ignoring the ominous feeling clouding the air, deliberately went in search of one of her bags.

'If whatever it is wants to face me, it had better be prepared,' she growled mentally as she found what she had searched for. Snatching it out of its former resting place, she clenched the filer tightly as she grimly returned to her post.

This time, there would be no running away.

This time, she was going to fight.

This time, only one was going to walk away, whole in mind, body and soul.

-x-x-x-x-

Kai walked calmly down the main street, back to where his (dare I say it) friends were relaxing. He knew Hilary was mad and had every right to be, but...for the sake of everyone, he was going to try to patch things up.

How? He had no idea. He had never done this sort of thing before, so he hoped he wouldn't botch it up.

Mentally sighing, he quickened his pace.

As he walked into the clearing area, he froze.

From the top of a tree was a pair of _very_ familiar purple-grey eyes.

Ignoring everyone, he walked over to the tree and stood pointedly in front of it, glaring up at its inhabitant.

Said inhabitant cursed in Russian.

"You gave away my hiding spot, I'll have you know," came the just as familiar voice.

The other teens jumped to their feet: they knew the voice and its owner as well.

Suddenly, a familiar form to both Kai and the others leapt from the tree branch, and tackled Kai down. Both hit the ground with just enough time to avoid the slash of something dark, dangerous and very sharp.

Mr. Taka, in an underworld garb, stood there, complete with a black sword, and a black whip.

'Lovely,' Kira thought bitterly, narrowing her now purple-grey eyes.

"K-Kira?" Kai's voice her total shock. Hilary and the others looked back and forth between the two, confused.

"I'll thank you later," she ground out, gripping the filer and trinket from her sensei tighter. "Right now, I've got something slightly more pressing to deal with."

Kai, who recognized the man at last, growled several things in Russian at the man, none of which were "nice to see you again".

'Something tells me I'll welcome death after this...' Kira thought as she placed herself between the newly-made underworld slayer, and her friends. 'Even though...' Her eyes momentarily flicked back to rest on Kai.

He nodded; he understood. She nodded back, glad he did.

Then she charged forward to clash with the man who had killed her once, and, most likely, would again.

-x-x-x-x-

Tala shifted in his chair for the thousandth time that morning. Where was Kai?

Bryan, Spencer, Ian and he traded looks before frowning and standing as one. Then their bit chips began to glow.

"Taka," Ian snarled as Wyborg shrilled in agreement.

The other three gripped their blades and said nothing.

-x-x-x-x-

Mariah gasped mentally when she saw the blood that dotted the blanket.

Unbeknownst to her, two entities nearby were watching. Two entities who had protected her in the past, and had decided to grant her one last boon before letting her kitten go out in the world, unprotected.

'A boon to you, my little one,' thought a woman who resembled a feline more so than even the neko-jin.

Her name was Bastet, the goddess of cats.

'A boon indeed,' thought her other protector, another female who resembled a feline more so than even the neko-jin.

Her name was Sekhmet, the fierce lion-goddess. (2)

The boon was cast, and her mate (3) would live...but for a price.

-x-x-x-x-

Max looked at the ground, trying hard to keep from just crying. This day had been horrible, he was tired, he was hurt, and his friend might never wake up from her coma!

Tired green eyes opened and focused on Max's form before widening.

"Max!" Mariam started before sitting up and pulling him into a fierce hug. (4)

"M-Mariam," his own aqua eyes widened before he hugged her back tightly.

"Max," came a hazy voice.

Slowly, Max's eyes opened before he came face to face with his mom.

"Maxie! You're okay!" She rushed forward, to try and hug him, but he pulled back.

"No," he told her. "I'm staying with my friends, getting hurt is a part of growing up."

"I understand," she told him with a smile and then he let her hug him...before all of it faded away to reveal the very clearing he had left.

And things did not look so good. (5)

-x-x-x-x-

Right as Kira had lunged forward to attack, the salve that had kept her shoulder wound numb had "mysteriously" worn off.

As she backed off and circled him, she knew it was not that. He had influenced it somehow.

'I'm not bad off enough...now he has to add _another_ thing in his favor,' she thought in disgust as she kept her eyes trained on him.

"Kira!" Hilary shouted, trying to come towards them, but Kai stopped her by grabbing onto her arm.

"This is her fight," he told her emotionlessly.

'That it is,' she thought grimly, trying not to wince as her shoulder pulled, causing the edges of her vision to turn grey and blur.

Taka smirked, a smirk that had driven her almost insane when she was younger. Then she figured out his game.

He was trying to trick her, make her mad, make her stumble up.

"It isn't going to work," she informed him icily. "Not this time. Not ever again."

"What?" He inquired innocently. Kai's eyes narrowed and he suppressed the urge to launch Dranzer at the sneering, arrogant jerk.

A flash later, Kira was on the ground, gritting her teeth against the newest injury she had sustained.

'Why do ghosts even _have_ blood,' she wondered dazedly as she struggled back to her feet. 'Ghost...that's it!'

Taka's eyes widened. She had figured it out. He had to strike now. And strike he did. Lunging forward, his sword sank deep into her chest, and speared her heart clean through.

To his surprise, she blankly looked down at the sword.

"I'm a ghost, idiot. I can be injured, sure, but you can't kill me!" With that, she drove her filer into him, making him back up, hissing in pain. 'Actually, I'm surprised I'm not on my way to the land of brimstone and fire as we speak...ah...focus, focus, focus! I died for nothing once; I'm not repeating that mistake yet again!'

A beam of moonlight shot across the sky, even thought there was no moon to be seen. (6)

A shimmering white sword appeared in Kai's hand; startled, he nearly dropped it.

_"Good luck, Kai...or should I say nii-san?"_ She managed that, and then she was gone. The black sword which had rested in her chest landed on the ground with a thud. (7)

Kai's bangs slid down over his eyes as he raised the shimmering sword.

-x-x-x-x-

Mariah stared at the same spot on the blanket. There had just been blood there. She had smelled it, seen it...but now it wasn't.

She was so preoccupied with her thoughts she failed to see a pair of golden eyes had opened and were now regarding her curiously.

"Who're you?"

Mariah turned her head so fast she cricked her neck. Rei, the boy she had known almost all her life, was staring at her like he had never seen her before.

-x-x-x-x-

Max woke with a start as the girl vanished.

'She...' His eyes were wide with shock. 'She was his sister?!'

"Max...?" Inquired a sleepy voice by his elbow. A tired looking Mariam was struggling to sit up. Hurriedly, he got her to lay back down and explained what had been going on.

"...wow..." Was Mariam was able to mumble after that. "And I thought today was going to be boring," she commented, hefting a sigh. That startled a laugh out of the normally happy blonde, causing both to grin, albeit weakly, at one another.

-x-x-x-x-

Kai moved without warning, his blade nipping Taka from his left shoulder to his right hip. He fell, and vanished. So did the whip and sword he had discarded in battle.

"Kai?" Hilary cautiously moved closer.

The hand that held his sword was shaking. He dropped it in the dirt and it, too, vanished without a trace.

Said proud, cold Russian sank to his knees...and buried his face in his hands.

His companions exchanged worried glances.

"Kai?" Hilary approached him warily and sat down on the ground next to him.

"...she..." Kai's voice cracked; he shook his head and could say no more.

-x-x-x-x-

(1)- you know? when you whisper...and it's loud...but not loud enough to be considered actual talk? Am I the only one who's friends do that?

(2)- Nyahahaha! Go brush up on your Egyptian gods! XD

(3)- you shall findeth moreth abouteth thateth latereth! (yes, I know that's not real Shakespearean language...I had to read Romeo and Juliet in REAL Shakespearean and they did **not** talk like _that_!)

(4)- yes, I know. OOC. Go bitch at someone who cares...'cuz I don't! (and you'll see why)

(5)- for anyone I confused (I confused myself, writing that!) that was all a dream.

(6)- Cloud cover, people.

(7)- 1-nii-san means brother. 2-she said it in Russian

Sorry it took so long...there were a lot of ideas that I wanted to pack in here, and some of them I came up with on the spot (literally). I sincerely enjoyed writing this story and appreciate all the reviews it received.

I hope it was worth the wait.

Emma

**_MUCHO EDITO:_**

Sequel is up, y'all. (Actually, sequel is finito, y'all. GO TAKE THE DAMNED POLL IF YOU WANT THE THIRD ONE!...:cough:...sorry. slightly frustrated over here, as the poll is a tie...and it's in my profile. :pokepoke: GO LOOK! **_PLEASE_**!)

'Tis called Trouble in Paradise.


	17. Please Read

Hey all.

Just a quick note...

The sequel?

It's up and it's called Trouble in Paradise.

Enjoy.  
~Emma


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